As polling concluded for the 2026 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, attention has swiftly moved to exit poll projections that are beginning to shape expectations about who will control India’s richest civic body. Voting for all 227 corporator seats was held on Thursday, January 15, with over 1.03 crore eligible voters participating in what is being seen as a politically decisive civic battle.

Early exit poll estimates indicate a clear advantage for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction, and the Republican Party of India (RPI). The alliance is being projected as the single largest force, potentially crossing the halfway mark needed to dominate the municipal corporation.

According to projections aired by CNN-News18’s JVC Exit Poll, the Mahayuti alliance is likely to win around 135 to 140 seats, giving it a comfortable majority in the 227-member House. The reunited Thackeray camp — comprising Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) headed by Raj Thackeray — is estimated to secure approximately 55 to 60 seats, placing it a distant second.

The same poll suggests that the Congress, contesting in alliance with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), may manage around 20 to 25 seats, while independents and smaller parties together could account for 5 to 10 seats.

A separate exit poll by Axis My India paints an even stronger picture for the ruling alliance. Its projections place the Mahayuti in the range of 131 to 151 seats, indicating a sweeping mandate if the estimates hold true. The Thackeray brothers’ alliance is forecast to win between 58 and 68 seats, while the Congress–VBA combine is predicted to be restricted to just 12 to 16 seats.