An important development has come to light regarding the lottery for reservation of the post of mayor in 29 municipal corporations of Maharashtra. The Urban Development Department of Maharashtra Government has issued an official letter in this regard. Reservation lottery will be conducted to decide the reservation for the post of mayor in 29 municipal corporations of the state.

This lottery will be held on Thursday (22 January 2026) at 11 am in the Council Auditorium of the Ministry. This process will be completed under the chairmanship of the Urban Development Minister and instructions have been given to the concerned officials to be present. All the political parties of the state have their eyes fixed on this reservation lottery.

Why reservation through lottery for the post of Mayor?

The mayor is elected by the councilors and this post comes under reservation. An attempt is made to keep the process fair for the post of Mayor through lottery. Through lottery, it is ensured that people from different social classes get a chance to hold the post of Mayor from time to time.

BJP broke into the strongholds of Thackeray and Pawar families

In the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation elections, BJP has emerged as the largest party in more than 12 municipal corporations including Mumbai and Pune by winning 1,425 seats out of 2,869 seats. BJP performed better in this civic election by breaking into the strongholds of Thackeray and Pawar families. BJP won 89 seats in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). There are 227 wards in BMC. This is the richest municipal body in the country. By winning the BMC elections, BJP ended the nearly three decade old dominance of the Thackeray family.

Which party got how many seats in BMC?

In the BMC elections, BJP won 89 seats and its ally Shinde’s Shiv Sena won 29 seats. Both the parties together won 118 seats. Whereas Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena (UBT) won 65 seats. Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) got 6 seats. Congress, which contested the elections in alliance with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), got 24 seats, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) got 8, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) got 3, Samajwadi Party got two and Sharad Pawar’s party got only one seat.

246 Municipal Council and 42 Nagar Panchayat elections were announced in Maharashtra. Voting will take place on 2 December and results will come on 3 December. According to sources, BMC and other municipal elections will be held after January (Makar Sankranti). Its notification will come in the third week of December.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said, “Elections in 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats will be held on December 2, results will be declared on December 3.” Election schedule has not been announced for 29 municipal corporations, 32 district councils and 336 panchayat samitis, where elections are to be held.

Votes will be cast at 13,355 polling stations

Senior IAS officer Dinesh Waghmare further said, “Voting will be held to elect 6,859 members and 288 chairpersons in these local self-government bodies. The number of eligible voters in these elections is 1.7 crore. 13,355 polling stations will be made for the elections. He also said that voting will be held using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

When is the last date for filing nomination?

He said that the last date for filing nominations for the Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat elections is November 17 and the nomination papers will be scrutinized on November 18. The last date for withdrawal of nomination is 21st November. Dinesh Waghmare also told that voting will be done according to the voter list of October 31.

When will BMC elections be held?

At the same time, according to sources, BMC and other municipal elections will be held in the next year. Elections can be held after Makar Sankranti in January. Its notification will come in the third week of December. Earlier on October 15, an all-party delegation had held a meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer of the state in Mumbai regarding the upcoming civic elections. MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray and other Mahavikas Aghadi leaders met the Chief Electoral Officer. Where many important issues related to elections were raised and fair elections were demanded.