Mahayuti eyeing 150-plus seats in BMC polls, Mumbai to have Marathi mayor: BJP

Mumbai, Dec 16 (PTI) The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra has set an ambitious target of winning more than 150 seats in the January 15 elections to the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), party leaders said on Tuesday.

Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam stressed the ruling alliance was working with a clear focus on crossing the 150-seat mark in India's largest civic body.

"Our discussions are aimed at ensuring Mahayuti candidates win across all 227 wards, with a clear objective of securing 150-plus seats in the BMC," Satam told reporters.

Addressing the media earlier after a meeting of ruling alliance leaders, Maharashtra BJP minister Ashish Shelar also spoke about the Mahayuti targeting the same number of seats in Mumbai.

Shelar asserted Mumbai would have a Marathi mayor after the civic polls, which are being held after a delay of nearly four years.

The minister informed the Mahayuti leadership has finalised its broad electoral strategy and would meet again in the coming days to fine-tune preparations.

Without naming Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, Shelar remarked that some people had already begun putting up posters admitting their "defeat" and claimed that Mumbaikars had decided to embrace change in the upcoming polls.

He dismissed allegations about attempts to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra as baseless. "Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis clarified this during the recently concluded winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur," Shelar said.

Shelar also ruled out any alliance with NCP leader and former minister Nawab Malik, who is in charge of his party's BMC campaign. "We will not form any alliance with Nawab Malik, and I have clearly communicated this to NCP leaders," he asserted.

Satam noted initial-level discussions among Mahayuti partners, including representatives of the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, had concluded.

"We have also held discussions with the RPI (A). Micro-level management meetings will be held next," he said, adding that Mumbaikars had already resolved to vote for the Mahayuti.

Former MP and Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale said the meeting focused on how to win 150 seats in the 227-member civic body.

"We had a positive discussion and fully endorse the BJP's stand. We will not contest elections with the NCP as long as Nawab Malik heads its civic poll campaign," he said.

An NCP leader, however, said the party had been preparing for civic polls for a long time and holding weekly meetings to strengthen its organisation in Mumbai.

"After consultations with Ajit Pawar (Deputy CM who also heads NCP), we will decide the exact number of seats we will contest. In multi-cornered local elections, individual candidates matter," he noted.

The long-delayed elections to the BMC, Asia's largest civic body with a budget of Rs 74,000 crore for 2025-26, will be held on January 15, with results to be declared the next day. The undivided Shiv Sena had ruled the civic body for nearly two decades, with the BJP as its junior ally. PTI ND MR RSY