The counting of votes for the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/bmc-elections-2026-voting-begins-across-mumbais-227-wards-23612099" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation</a> (BMC) elections will start at 10 am on Friday, civic commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said on Thursday, reported news agency PTI.
Voting was underway on Thursday for the BMC and 28 other municipal corporations in Maharashtra.
Gagrani told reporters that due to the short gap between polling and counting, the counting of votes for all <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/bmc-election-2026-mumbaikars-plan-travel-today-as-heavy-police-deployment-across-city-voting-centres-may-cause-disruptions-23611975?2008-dec-breakingnews" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">civic wards</a> will start at 10 am on Friday.
This could result in the declaration of results later than usual.
"It may take an hour longer than usual," Gagrani said, reported PTI.
<h2>Voting begins for high-stakes civic polls in Maharashtra</h2>
Meanwhile, voting in 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra began on Thursday morning with spotlight on <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/bmc-election-2026-digital-campaigning-dominates-mumbai-s-municipal-poll-campaign-23611569" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Mumbai</a>, where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is locked in an intense battle with the reunited Thackeray cousins for control of India's largest and richest civic body.
Polling for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations began amid tight security at 7.30 am and will conclude at 5.30 pm. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates.
In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), whose annual budget is over Rs 74, 400 crore, 1,700 candidates are vying for 227 seats in elections being held after nine years, after a four-year delay. More than 25,000 police personnel have been deployed across Mumbai to oversee elections.
Except for Mumbai, the other urban bodies have multi-member wards. Vote count will take place on January 16.
These are the first BMC polls since the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena when <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/bmc-election-2026-eknath-shinde-says-people-of-mumbai-have-decided-to-make-mahayuti-23611854" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Eknath Shinde</a>, now Deputy Chief Minister, broke away with a majority of the party's MLAs and allied with the BJP to become the chief minister.
The undivided Shiv Sena held sway over India's richest civic body for 25 years (1997-2022).
In a significant political turn of events ahead of the elections, estranged cousins Uddhav and <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/maharashtra-civic-polls-sec-allowed-post-campaign-canvassing-at-govts-behest-alleges-raj-thackeray-sanjay-raut-echoes-charge-23612031" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Raj Thackeray</a>, who head Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS, respectively, reunited last month after two decades in their bid to consolidate Marathi votes even as rival NCP factions forged a local alliance in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
The Congress, once a formidable political force in Maharashtra, has asserted its presence in Mumbai by stepping out of the shadow of its Maha Vikas Aghadi allies - Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP).
The grand old party has joined hands with Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh in the state capital.
Elections to the 29 municipal corporations are being held after a gap of several years, with terms of most of them having ended between 2020 and 2023. Of these, nine fall in the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/bmc-election-2026-rs-2-lakh-crore-infrastructure-projects-including-mumbai-metro-and-railways-underway-in-mmr-says-cm-fadnavis-23608338" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Mumbai Metropolitan Region</a> (MMR), the most urbanised belt in India.
(With inputs from PTI)

The counting of votes for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections 2026 will start at 10 am on Friday, civic commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said

BMC elections 2026 vote counting to commence at 10 am on Jan 16: Civic chief Bhushan Gagrani

BMC elections 2026: Raj Thackeray targets SEC after casting vote

Gagrani told reporters that due to the short gap between polling and counting, the counting of votes for all civic wards will start at 10 am on Friday

BMC elections 2026: Vote counting to begin at 10 am on January 16

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