Nomination process for BMC elections begins; major parties yet to announce candidates

Mumbai, Dec 23 (PTI) The process of filing nominations for the long-awaited Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections began on Tuesday, even as major political parties are yet to announce their alliances and candidates.

The 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 the results to be declared the next day.

BMC commissioner and state-appointed administrator Bhushan Gagrani held a meeting with representatives of various political parties at the civic body's headquarters and briefed them on the functioning of 23 election offices set up across Mumbai to facilitate election-related work, officials said.

As per a release issued by the civic body on Monday evening, detailed information was shared on the nomination process, scrutiny of papers, election expenditure, and other legal and technical aspects of the polls.

Nomination papers can be filed from December 23 to December 30, while the scrutiny will be conducted on December 31, and January 2 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

Most major political parties are yet to finalise their alliances and candidates for the 227 civic wards, except the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The AAP has released its first list of 21 candidates and also announced a list of 40 star campaigners, including party leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.

The undivided Shiv Sena had ruled the civic body for nearly two decades, with the BJP as its junior ally. PTI KK ARU