Maharashtra civic polls: Young voters left confused over new alliances in Mumbai

A sense of uncertainty prevailed among young voters in Mumbai who cast their votes for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on Thursday, January 15, 2026. Many expected a “well-educated person” to be appointed as the BMC Mayor after the elections.

Many people remained undecided about their preferences until the last moment leading up to the polls. The turmoil centered around multiple alliances in the fray in the civic body polls in Mumbai, the country’s richest civic body.

As many as 1,700 candidates contested in 227 wards in Mumbai on Thursday, January 15, 2026. Of these, Hindu He visited wards 9 and 21.

In ward 9, candidates from BJP, Shiv Sena (UBT), AAP and Congress are in the poll fray, while in ward 21 in Kandivali, candidates from BJP, MNS and BSP are contesting.

Payal Dongre (20) and Rahul Khernar (30), both Borivali residents, expressed concern that these elections were “confusing” as they found themselves “stuck in making the right choice”.

Ms. Dongre, a first-time voter, said: “BJP is communal, MNS is no less communal. So how to decide on the right candidate? I could only choose the least bad one.” He said he expects employment opportunities for Mumbai locals to increase.

While Mr. Khernar expressed satisfaction with the BJP’s development agenda, he said he was hesitant about trusting turncoats. Taking the example of BJP candidate Shweta Korgaonkar, who contested for the Congress in the 2017 elections, he said: “We choose a candidate and [later] We see that he entered the party we did not want. “There is no credibility or honesty left in the candidates and their parties.”

In the 2017 BMC polls, Mr. Korgaonkar won in ward 9 and is currently contesting on a BJP ticket in ward 16. The fight in this ward is against BJP’s Shivanand Shetty, who was Congress’s corporator in 2012. Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Sanjay Bhosale and BSP’s Haresh Manoriya are also in the race.

A four-cornered battle in ward 9 with the fight between Mahayutis comprising BJP, RPI, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde); Congress and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA); Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP-SP and MNS; and BSP.

For ward 21, it is between BJP, MNS and BSP.

For the BJP, which controlled the 21st ward in 2017, this time it will be about regaining control and fighting against the Congress and BSP.

Leena Deherkar, the former corporator of the BJP in ward 30, was given a ticket by the party for the contest in ward 21.

In 2017, the BJP won 82 seats, an all-time high, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) won 84 seats. Congress performed poorly, winning only 31 seats and MNS only 7 seats. These figures show that the BJP is slowly increasing its influence in the BMC, which has traditionally been dominated by the Thackerays.

A voter from Kandivali, a software engineer by profession and who did not want to be named, said, “All parties have their own voter base and these alliances of interest protect these bases. We are just fillers who vote based on hope.”

Daisy Lal (21), a resident of Kandivali, Mahavirnagar, finds the BJP’s development agenda appealing and says, “Compared to the four years of the BJP and the 25 years of Uddhav Thackeray and his family, development has been more visible during the tenure of the BJP.” He said it did not fit the concept of Hindutva but added that “sometimes development has to be given priority”.

Voters also voted for BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT).set their agenda accordinglyThe Hindutva identity and the Marathi Manoos identity respectively give a common color to their campaigns.