In a significant development during the counting of votes for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on Friday, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) registered an important urban breakthrough with its candidate Mehjabeen Atiq Ahmed Khan winning from Ward 134 (Byculla). The victory marks a notable gain for AIMIM in Mumbai’s high-stakes civic battle, particularly in the politically sensitive central Mumbai constituency. As ward-wise results continued to trickle in, the Byculla outcome stood out as a key moment for AIMIM, which has been looking to expand its footprint in the city’s municipal politics. Mehjabeen Atiq Ahmed Khan’s win underscores the party’s growing appeal in select pockets of Mumbai amid a fiercely competitive multi-cornered contest.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Ramakant Rahate secured a victory from Ward 208, polling 11,614 votes, as counting progressed across the city. The BMC elections, held on Thursday along with polls to 28 other local bodies in Maharashtra, witnessed a 52.94 per cent voter turnout in Mumbai, the second-highest since 1992. A total of 1.24 crore voters elected 227 corporators, with nearly 1,700 candidates contesting the prestigious civic body. According to the latest trends, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance has crossed the halfway mark, leading in 119 wards, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is trailing with 71 seats. Other parties and independents are ahead in 10 wards. The majority mark in the 227-member BMC stands at 114 seats.
So far, nine candidates have been officially declared winners, including four from Shiv Sena, three from the BJP, and one from the Congress, besides AIMIM’s win in Byculla. The BMC election is widely seen as a prestige battle, with control over India’s richest civic body — which has an annual budget exceeding ₹74,000 crore — at stake. The contest features the BJP-led Mahayuti locked in a direct fight with the Maha Vikas Aghadi, while the reunited Thackeray cousins, Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT) and Raj Thackeray (MNS), are also key players. Parties such as the Congress, NCP, NCP (SP), Samajwadi Party and AIMIM are adding to the multi-layered political contest. In the 2017 BMC elections, the then-united Shiv Sena emerged as the single-largest party with 84 seats, narrowly ahead of the BJP’s 82, followed by Congress (31), NCP (9), MNS (7), Samajwadi Party (6) and AIMIM (2). As counting continues, AIMIM’s victory in Ward 134 (Byculla) is being seen as a symbolic and strategic gain, potentially strengthening the party’s position in Mumbai’s evolving civic and political landscape.