Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Jan 15: Voting for elections to 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra began on Thursday morning, with all eyes firmly on Mumbai, where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is locked in a high-stakes contest with the reunited Thackeray cousins for control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India’s largest and richest civic body.

Polling for 2,869 seats across 893 wards started at 7.30 am amid tight security arrangements and will continue till 5.30 pm. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates contesting the elections. Counting of votes will be held on January 16.

Except for Mumbai, all other municipal corporations have multi-member wards.

These elections assume added significance as they are the first BMC polls since the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena, when Eknath Shinde broke away with a majority of party MLAs, allied with the BJP and later became chief minister. He is currently serving as deputy chief minister.

In Mumbai, elections are being held after a gap of nine years, following a four-year delay. As many as 1,700 candidates are in the fray for 227 seats in the BMC, which has an annual budget exceeding Rs 74,400 crore.

To ensure smooth conduct of polling, over 25,000 police personnel have been deployed across the city.

Of the total electorate of 3.48 crore voters, 1.81 crore are men, 1.66 crore women, and 4,596 belong to the ‘other’ category. Out of 39,092 polling stations across the state, 3,196 have been identified as sensitive.

Voting is being conducted using electronic voting machines. Of the 43,958 control units and 87,916 ballot units deployed across Maharashtra, Mumbai alone accounts for 11,349 control units and 22,698 ballot units.