Saffron surge in civic polls as BJP clinches 1,425 seats across 29 municipal corporations

The BJP has swept the 2026 civic polls, winning 1,425 of 2,869 seats across 29 municipal corporations, and wresting control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from Uddhav Thackeray, ending his family's three-decade-old dominance in the cash-rich civic body. The BJP won 89, and ally Shiv Sena bagged 29 seats in the 227-member BMC, while Shiv Sena (UBT) managed 65 and MNS six seats. The Congress, which fought in alliance with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), bagged 24 seats, AIMIM 8, NCP 3, Samajwadi Party 2, and NCP (SP) got just one seat. The saffron party stunned the Pawars in the Pune polls, clinching 119 seats, with Ajit Pawar-led NCP coming in distant second with 27 and its ally NCP (SP) getting three seats, while the Congress managed 15 seats.

In the 151-member Nagpur civic body, the BJP held sway, getting 102, while the Congress bagged a mere 34. Nashik saw the BJP bagging 72 seats, Shiv Sena 26, Shiv Sena (UBT) 15, Congress 3 and NCP 4. The BJP's victory streak continued in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where it won 57 seats, followed by Shiv Sena with 13, Congress with one, while other parties registered with the SEC, especially the AIMIM, bagged 33 seats. According to the final tally, the BJP won 1,425 out of a total 2,869 seats, Shiv Sena 399, Congress 324, NCP 167, Shiv Sena (UBT) 155, NCP (SP) 36, MNS 13, BSP 6, parties registered with the SEC 129, unrecognised parties 196, and 19 independents. The elections were held in the following municipal corporations: Mumbai, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Solapur, Amravati, Akola, Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Ulhasnagar, Thane, Chandrapur, Parbhani, Mira-Bhayandar, Nanded-Waghala, Panvel, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Latur, Malegaon, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad, Jalgaon, Ahilyanagar, Dhule, Jalna and Ichalkaranji.