Mumbai: After weeks of a war of words, twisted alliances and claims to the Thackeray legacy, campaigning for municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra came to an end on Tuesday.
In a fiercely fought campaign, the ruling and opposition alliances weren’t the only ones trading barbs—several alliances also witnessed infighting over a host of issues.
Political analyst Abhay Deshpande told ThePrint that many of the issues stemmed from the nearly eight-year gap between elections.
“Elections have not been conducted since 2017. During this time, a generation of political ambitions was bred and was waiting for elections to be held. That is why we saw a lot of confusion and resentment,” he said.
“After these local body polls, there won’t be elections in the near future in the state. So, it remains to be seen what the political future of Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde will be. Also, whether the MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) and Shiv Sena (UBT) will survive for four more years will be decided based on the outcome of these elections.”
Here are the top five main themes that dominated the poll campaign.
Unopposed election wins
While uncontested elections are not unusual in municipal polls, the number of candidates that won unopposed this time was surprising.
A total of 69 candidates won unopposed across 29 municipal corporations, sharply higher than 11 last time. Most of the unopposed winners were from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena.
Of these, the BJP won 44, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena 22 and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) two. One unopposed winner was an independent candidate.
The Kalyan-Dombivli corporation, a stronghold of both BJP state president Ravindra Chavan, and Eknath and Shrikant Shinde, saw 22 people win unopposed. In the previous cycle of elections between 2010 and 2017, there were 11 such candidates.
The opposition accused the BJP and the ruling Mahayuti of using “pressure tactics”, alleging that candidates were threatened or lured with money or posts to withdraw their candidature. They demanded polling in these wards.
However, the State Election Commission (SEC) said no polling is held when there is only one contestant in the fray as NOTA, or None of the Above, is not actually a candidate. It added that re-polling can only be held if NOTA gets more votes than a candidate.
Avinash Jadhav of the MNS went to the Bombay High Court demanding an investigation into how many candidates were elected without even contesting. He alleged “coercive withdrawals” were behind these wins.
Fewer candidates
While unopposed winners increased sharply, the total number of candidates dropped 8.6 percent to 15,931 from 17,432 in the 2014-2018 election period, according to the SEC website.
In Mumbai, the number of candidates fell from 2,275 to 1,700, a sharp drop of 25 percent. The situation was similar across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, with Kalyan-Dombivili seeing a 35 percent fall and Navi Mumbai 26 percent.
According to SEC, the number of corporations grew from 22 in 2000 to 27 in 2014-2018, and now 29.
Deshpande said that because new alliances were formed this time—such as the Shiv Sena (UBT) with the MNS and the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) with the Congress—parties that fought separately last time merged and their candidates got clubbed together.
He added that money was also a factor that deterred independents from contesting. Many could not afford the high cost of an election campaign as candidates have to spend on huge rallies, advertisements and social media campaigns.
Moreover, wards are further divided into ‘prabhags’ (divisions), making it tougher for independents as they have limited voters in these areas.
“Hence, we are seeing fewer candidates this election compared to last time,” Deshpande said.
Infighting among alliances
The elections were marked by twisted alliances and infighting, not just between the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) but also within the alliances themselves.
At many places, the Mahayuti seemed divided, with the NCP (AP) contesting separately in Mumbai, Pune, and Pimpri-Chinchwad. In Nashik, the Shiv Sena and NCP(AP) were together, while the BJP went its separate way.
In Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Shiv Sena (UBT) allied with the NCP (SP) and MNS, but the Congress contested alone. Similarly, in Thane, the Shiv Sena (UBT) allied with the MNS and NCP (SP), and Congress fought separately.
Apart from new alliances, in the Akot and Ambernath municipal council polls, the BJP tried to form alliances with the AIMIM and Congress, respectively. In both these municipal councils, local units of the BJP and other parties decided to form alliances with each other.
In Ambernath, the local units of the BJP and Congress came together to keep the Shinde Sena away, while in Akot, the BJP tied up with its ideological rival, the AIMIM.
Both these alliances created controversy, and the BJP’s state leadership had to step in. In Ambernath, the BJP inducted Congress legislators into their fold, but Shinde pulled the rug from under them after gaining the support of the NCP (AP) and independents to claim power.
However, the BJP managed to emerge on top in Akot. After the uproar, it brought sections of the NCP and Shiv Sena into its fold while keeping the AIMIM, Congress, and VBA out of power.
The shifting alliances led parties to trade barbs, accusing each other of corruption, appeasement and inefficiency.
In Navi Mumbai, for instance, the BJP’s Ganesh Naik accused Eknath Shinde of mismanagement in the corporation. In Mumbai, the BJP refused to tie up with the NCP (AP) because its leader, Nawab Malik, is facing allegations of connections with the underworld. In turn, Malik also accused Fadnavis and BJP Tamil Nadu leader Annamalai of playing divisive politics and polarising the voters.
Even Ajit Pawar accused the BJP of doing communal politics in the BMC.
At a public rally in Pune's Katraj ahead of Pune Municipal Corporation election, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis says, “The Pune election is slowly heating up. One ‘Dada’ (Ajit Pawar) is making statements (allegations), another ‘Dada’ is speaking, ‘Anna’ is speaking as well. Now… pic.twitter.com/UYlTTygnFo
— ANI (@ANI) January 5, 2026
In Pune, the bitterness between Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis sharpened, with Pawar accusing Fadnavis at a rally of corruption during his tenure in the Pune Metropolitan Corporation and saying none of their promises were fulfilled. Fadnavis shot back, saying that Pawar “only talks” while he works.
The Congress also accused the MNS of playing the communal card previously, and so did not tie up with the Shiv Sena (UBT). It also accused the BJP, Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS of playing the linguistic and communal card while deciding Mumbai’s mayor.
“I feel the Mahayuti had strategically taken a call to even take over the space of the opposition because after the assembly polls, the MVA has disintegrated in these local body polls. So their intention seems to be, ‘aapas mein ladho, saare badho’ (Let’s fight together, let’s all progress). So the alliances remain intact where opposition was strong, while in other places, the Mahayuti fought separately,” said Deshpande.
Marathi ‘manoos’ takes centrestage
The state government’s resolution allowing Hindi to be the third mandatory language in state education from Standard 1 reignited the issue of Hindi imposition and the marginalisation of Marathi.
As a result, the Marathi ‘manoos’ issue became central to the campaign, with the Thackeray brothers focusing on the identity of Marathi ‘manoos’. They even claimed that the election in Mumbai was a “do-or-die” for the Marathi ‘manoos’ and urged them to vote carefully.
On the other hand, Mahayuti leaders assured voters that nobody could break Mumbai and that Marathi culture and language would continue to be a priority.
This election brought back memories of the 1950s Samyukta Maharashtra movement, where the Thackeray brothers’ grandfather, Prabodhankar Thackeray, led the fight.
Consolidation of Marathi votes is necessary if the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS want to stand a chance against the ruling Mahayuti.
Over the years, Marathi votes have been split between the undivided Shiv Sena, the MNS, and, to some extent, the BJP. But the Sena (UBT)-MNS hope the Marathi ‘manoos’ plank will help consolidate the Marathis to vote for the alliance.
Adani: the latest entrant
Businessman Gautam Adani also became a contentious issue in the election campaigns. On Sunday, Raj Thackeray displayed a map of India showing Adani’s growing footprint. He alleged that Adani’s empire grew only in the last 10 years, from 2014, because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
२०१४ ते २०२५ या फक्त ११ वर्षांच्या काळात, सरकारच्या आशीर्वादाने अदानी समूह ज्या वेगाने देशात पसरला आणि अनेक क्षेत्रात एकाधिकारशाही निर्माण करत चालला आहे. त्याची झलक दाखवणारी ही चित्रफीत जरूर पहा… pic.twitter.com/rPXdviHzaH
— Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) January 11, 2026
Uddhav Thackeray has made the Dharavi redevelopment project, which was awarded to an Adani group firm, a poll issue since the assembly elections. He also said he would ensure that Mumbai doesn’t become “Adanistan”.
However, after the attack on Adani, Mahayuti leaders shared photos of Raj Thackeray welcoming Adani at his house last year, accusing Raj Thackeray of hypocrisy.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)