BMC Elections 2026: Thackeray Brothers, Sharad Pawar's NCP Seal Seat Sharing Pact

Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thakeray along with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thakeray and Sharad Pawar's New Congress Party have finalised their seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, NDTV reported on Tuesday.

Under the arrangement, UBT will be contesting for 163 seats, MNS has been allocated 53 seats and NCP has a total of 11 seats to contest for the local body elections.

Earlier in the day, the Mahayuti alliance also shared its seat allocation with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Devendra Fadnavis contesting 137 wards, while the Shiv Sena fielding candidates in 90.

Another constituent of Mahayuti, the NCP, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is contesting the BMC polls separately.

The NCP (AP) has so far announced 64 candidates for the BMC polls.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal announced that the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) will contest 62 out of the 227 seats as part of its alliance in the BMC polls.

As per media reports, Sapkal emphasised that for the Congress, the elections are not about a power struggle but about promoting shared ideas.

The Maharashtra State Election Commission has scheduled elections for 29 municipal corporations across the state, including Mumbai, Pune, and Pimpri-Chinchwad after nine long years of delay.

Voting for Mumbai’s 227 wards will take place on January 15, with counting set for Jan. 16, 2026.

In the 2017 BMC elections for 227 seats, the BJP made significant gains in Mumbai, traditionally considered a Shiv Sena stronghold.

The BJP secured 82 seats, coming just two short of the undivided Shiv Sena, which led the tally. The Congress finished third with 31 seats, while the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Raj Thackeray’s MNS were reduced to nine and seven seats, respectively.