Overview
- Uddhav and Raj Thackeray announced a formal alliance to contest the January 15 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election and other city polls.
- Shiv Sena (UBT) is courting Muslim voters with plans to field more Muslim candidates in roughly 30–35 winnable wards and has inducted several Muslim local leaders.
- The BJP has adopted a hard Hindutva-plus-development template and plans to field high-profile campaigners such as Yogi Adityanath and Nitesh Rane in Mumbai.
- Party messaging and outreach target North Indian and Gujarati voters in the city, with leaders framing the contest against the Thackerays’ Marathi-Muslim plank.
- Sharad Pawar’s NCP is reported to be aligning with the Uddhav–MNS combine, Congress participation remains unclear, and Uddhav has accused the BJP of seeking to "devour" Mumbai.