Polling Today For 29 Municipal Corporations Across Maharashtra
Mumbai: After a fierce campaign, urban Maharashtra is all set for the high-stakes battle in major cities in the state as polling for 29 municipal corporations will be held on Thursday. All eyes will be on Mumbai, the country’s financial capital, where the Thackeray brothers are engaged in a fierce battle with the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Voting in the Maharashtra municipal elections will begin at 7.30 am on Thursday and continue till 5.30 pm. The counting of votes will take place on January 16. A total of 3.48 crore eligible voters will decide the fate of 15,931 candidates, including 1,700 in Mumbai and 1,166 in Pune.
To facilitate voting, the state government declared January 15 a public holiday in the 29 municipal areas going to polls. According to the State Election Commission, January 15 will be a public holiday for government offices, semi-government offices, companies and boards, public sector organisations, banks and central government offices within the BMC limits. Private offices may make decisions depending on internal politics, but many are expected to remain closed.
The state government also declared a four-day drought period in 29 civic districts, banning the sale and consumption of alcohol between January 13 and January 16.
Major cities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) where the surveys will be conducted include Mumbai (BMC), Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Panvel and Vasai-Virar. Other major cities are Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nagpur, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Solapur, Kolhapur, Amravati, Akola and Latur.
While voting in Mumbai will be done on the traditional one ward one vote model, the other 28 corporations will use a multi-member ward system (3 or 4 members per ward). Voters in these cities have to vote more than once at the EVM for different candidates in their districts.
But all eyes will be on Mumbai, with the BJP desperately trying to end the Thackeray family’s dominance in the city. Elections will be held for a total of 227 seats of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), with 114 seats required for majority.
The main contest in Mumbai is believed to be between Mahayuti (BJP + Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena) and the alliance of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. NCP and Congress may try to retain certain specific areas in the state.
MNS leader Raj Thackeray reunited with his estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray after nearly 20 years, ahead of the polls, in a bid to consolidate Marathi votes
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut made a passionate appeal to Mumbaikars to vote for the Thackeray cousins. His post, which quickly went viral, included the slogan: “All Marathi people have decided… If we are together we are safe! And Thackeray is the best.”
Raut urged voters to stand behind the collective strength of the Thackeray cousins to protect the city’s regional interests and Marathi identity.
Responding to the Thackeray camp’s focus on regional pride, BJP Minister Nitesh Rane struck the opposite note on social media, posting: “Hindus have decided, I Love Mahadev…” His message is seen as a strategic move to consolidate the Hindu vote bank.
