Initial trends in the Mira Bhayandar civic polls indicate that the BJP is leading overall, while the Congress is ahead in 7 of the 8 seats.The contest features major alliances, including the Shiv Sena (UBT)–MNS combine, the BJP–Shiv Sena–NCP alliance, and the Congress–Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) alliance. Vote counting is underway, and clearer trends are expected as more rounds conclude.Vote counting is underway at designated centres under tight security, with officials cautioning that trends may shift as multiple rounds of counting progress. While several wards are witnessing close contests, some have reported clear early leads.The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which has an annual budget exceeding Rs 74,400 crore, is seeing around 1,700 candidates contesting 227 seats in polls being held after a four-year delay. Unlike Mumbai, other urban local bodies in Maharashtra follow a multi-member ward system.These are the first BMC elections since the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena, when Eknath Shinde, now Deputy Chief Minister, broke away with a majority of the party’s MLAs and allied with the BJP to form the state government. The undivided Shiv Sena had controlled the country’s richest civic body for 25 years, from 1997 to 2022.
