- For the uninitiated, the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) is the richest in the country, whose coffers are endowed with a substantial annual budgetary outlay. The size of its coffer for the financial year 2025-26 was approximately Rs. 74,427 crores. The BMC is known to generate a surplus annually, estimated between Rs.3,000 and Rs.4,000 crore. Its budget size exceeds that of some of India’s smaller states. As we know, the capital city of Maharashtra is known as the financial capital of India, with every worthy name in the economic world making its presence felt here. The pulse of the Indian economy runs through the nerves of Mumbai’s famed financial infrastructure. And the BMC plays a critical part in sustaining the Indian economy’s upward trajectory.
PC: India Commentary
- However, the BMC had not seen elections even though the terms of corporators expired three years ago in 2022. Of course, the political churning witnessed in the state duly attracted the eyeballs of all concerned, where the established parties split vertically, leading to fresh alignments. The financial capital is crying for help vis-à-vis creaking infrastructural issues, and the BMC polling would ensure the local representatives will finally be able to deliver the requisite basic civic amenities. The BMC elections will be on 15th January 2026. The people of Mumbai would finally heave a sigh of relief at the announcement. This will be the third of the three-phase local body elections underway in Maharashtra after the SC directed state polls by January 2026.
PC: The Hindu
- Leave aside the upheaval in the state’s political landscape, a chaotic and moribund legislature till last year’s assembly polls, Sena & NCP splits, Uddhav’s poll highs & lows, Shinde’s vault from CM to deputy CM, and Jarange-Patil’s sideshows. Fires on multiple fronts – reservations, quota limits, alliances, and now allegations of iffy voter rolls – have made BMC elections an essential test of political mettle and muscle. The lottery of which seats will be reserved, especially, has meant many corporators have lost ground, their poll turfs going to reserved categories. Much adjustment is in play. Which beggars the imagination because the sole reason this election is important is that Mumbai is groaning under the weight of its own administrative mismanagement. Why?
PC: Mid-day
- It’s a wreck, giving Delhi a run for its money even on noxious air. Will the new set of 227 corporators elected take a hard look at the state of the city? Or will the results merely signal how political stars will align ahead of the 2029 LS polls and Maharashtra assembly elections? Some interesting facts. The last BMC election was in 2027 – Shiv Sena was one party under Thackerays, allied with the BJP. Sena is not with Shinde, so the party’s gone. Thackeray cousins have reunited to retain ‘Thackeray control” on BMC – control the parent party has had since 1995. Congress is going solo. The two Pawars, or NCPs, are reunited in some contests in the state, rivals in others. Ordinary Mumbaikars would be hoping their everyday travails will be addressed, at last.
