Overview
- Uddhav and Raj Thackeray formally announced a Shiv Sena (UBT)–MNS tie-up for the January 15 BMC elections and pledged that Mumbai will get a Marathi mayor from their front.
- The allies have not disclosed their seat-sharing for the 227 BMC wards, saying details will be announced later, even as they confirmed cooperation in other civic bodies.
- The BJP–Shinde-led Mahayuti has largely settled seat-sharing for roughly 200 of 227 BMC wards and is preparing candidate lists, with talks continuing on the remainder.
- Congress has signalled it will contest the BMC on its own, straining previous opposition alignments, while the Sharad Pawar–led NCP (SP) position is still to be clarified.
- Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde dismissed the Thackeray pact as a survival move; the State Election Commission set counting for January 16.