BJP, Shinde Sena Mumbai power-sharing talks drag on, may delay mayoral polls

According to political insiders, the delay is due to power-sharing discussions that are still underway between the two alliance partners.

Mumbai’s mayoral election could be delayed as the ruling parties, the BJP and Shiv Sena, are yet to register their corporators with the Konkan divisional commissioner, a mandatory process after the civic election.

Mumbai, India. Jan 22, 2026 – Workers are busy painting the colour and cleaning the Mayor Banglow at Veer Jijamata Udyan (Byculla Zoo) in Byculla. Mumbai city will get a new mayor next week after the election. Mumbai, India. Jan 22, 2026 (Raju Shinde)

According to political insiders, the delay is due to power-sharing discussions that are still underway between the two alliance partners, regarding their relative representation on important civic committees in the BMC.

“As of now, corporators of the leading political parties have not yet registered since their victory. Due to this, we are unable to take the process forward,” Manjiri Deshpande, municipal secretary of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) told HT.

“Once they register, we can officially call for the mayoral elections, which can take place between three to seven days after the formal notification is issued. While a three-day gap is mandatory as per the rulebook, conventionally we follow a seven-day gap for the entire procedure,” explained Deshpande.

The BMC was to call for mayoral polls on January 31 and was even set to issue the public notification on Friday, but withdrew it at the last minute.

There’s another strategy in play. Insiders say the BJP is keen to get the Sena to register with it together as a bloc, thus ensuring better strength in committees and also ensuring that the Sena comes under its whip. But the Sena is refusing to play ball.

“While the numbers may not change in the standing committee, in other committees like the BEST, improvements committee and even education, we could get one additional member and that could give us a decisive edge,” said the BJP source.

This is critical since, of the 26 seats in the standing committee, while the BJP is eligible for 10 seats, the Sena is eligible for 3 and the Shiv Sena (UBT) 8. If the BJP-Sena together get 13 seats, they would be at par with the Sena (UBT), in the event that the latter gets issue-based support from parties like the Congress (3), MNS (1), AIMIM (1) on key decisions.

However, the Sena is refusing to take the bait. “We will register as a separate party on January 27 and not together,” said Rahul Shewale, the Sena’s general-secretary. “We will wait and see what the BJP has to offer us,” he said.