Voting in 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra began on Thursday morning with spotlight on Mumbai, where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is locked in an intense battle with the reunited Thackeray cousins for control of India’s largest and richest civic body.Polling for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations began amid tight security at 7.30 am and will conclude at 5.30 pm. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates.In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), whose annual budget is over Rs 74, 400 crore, 1,700 candidates are vying for 227 seats in elections being held after nine years, after a four-year delay. More than 25,000 police personnel have been deployed across Mumbai to oversee elections.Except for Mumbai, the other urban bodies have multi-member wards. Vote count will take place on January 16. — with PTIRSS chief casts vote, says NOTA choice indirectly promotes unwanted candidatesJanuary 15, 2026 8:40 amRSS chief Mohan Bhagwat cast his vote in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) polls and remarked that choosing the NOTA option indirectly helps promote an unwanted candidate. Bhagwat was among the early voters in the Nagpur civic body polls. He went to a polling booth in the Mahal area of Maharashtra’s Nagpur city at around 7.30 am and exercised his franchise. Former RSS general secretary and central committee member Bhaiyaji Joshi, who was also among the early voters, emphasised the importance of voting in elections.