Exit polls predict a historic shift in India’s richest civic body, with the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance projected to cross the majority mark.
MUMBAI (January 15, 2026) – The decades-long dominance of the Thackeray family over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) appears to be coming to an end, according to the latest exit polls released this evening.
Aggregated poll data suggests that the Mahayuti alliance—comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and NCP (Ajit Pawar)—is set to secure a clear majority in the 227-seat civic body. Most pollsters project the alliance winning between 115 and 125 seats, comfortably crossing the halfway mark of 114.
Interestingly, the data indicates that Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) successfully consolidated the traditional “Marathi Manoos” vote. However, this support was seemingly insufficient to counter a massive consolidation of non-Marathi voters and the combined arithmetic of the ruling coalition. “The emotional appeal worked in strongholds like Dadar and Parel, but the suburban belt has swung decisively towards the Mahayuti,” noted one poll analyst.
If these numbers hold true on counting day, it will mark a seismic shift in Mumbai’s politics, stripping ‘Matoshree’ of its most vital power center for the first time in over 25 years.
