BMC 2026 polls: Muslim candidates 19 per cent of total candidates, nearly 80% of them contesting from Muslim-dominated wards

Muslim voters are largely concentrated in pockets such as Nagpada, Byculla, Mazgaon, Mahim, Bharat Nagar, Behrampada, Jogeshwari, Millat Nagar, Kurla, Sonapur Bhandup, Govandi, Cheeta Camp and Kidwai Nagar in Wadala East. Together, these areas play a decisive role in nearly 50 wards.

The total number of Muslim candidates contesting the BMC polls has fallen by nearly 10 per cent from 360 in 2017 to 330 this time around, and the decline broadly mirrors a wider drop in candidates contesting the polls, with the overall number of candidates in Mumbai falling by over 25 per cent, from 2,275 in 2017 to around 1,700 this year.

The data also shows that while parties traditionally seen as secular have either retained or reduced their Muslim candidates, parties allied with the BJP including factions of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have fielded a significant number of Muslim candidates.

Muslims in civic politics

Muslims constitute Mumbai’s largest minority and remain an important political constituency. As per the 2011 Census, the city has over 25 lakh Muslims, accounting for 20.64 per cent of its population, roughly one in every five residents. Despite this demographic presence, their representation in the BMC has remained limited. In the previous House, there were 27 Muslim corporators, or about 11 per cent of the city’s elected representatives.

The 2017 BMC elections marked the strongest electoral showing for Muslim candidates in over two decades. The number of Muslim corporators rose from 21 in 2002 to 23 in both 2007 and 2012, before increasing further to 27 in 2017.

In this election, the Congress has maintained the status quo, fielding 37 Muslim candidates, unchanged from 2017. The NCP, which had nominated 39 Muslim candidates in the last elections, is now split, with the Ajit Pawar faction fielding 24 candidates and the Sharad Pawar faction just three. A similar split is visible in the Shiv Sena. While the undivided party had fielded five Muslim candidates in 2017, the Eknath Shinde faction has nominated 12 and the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction 10 this time. Among parties that traditionally draw Muslim support, the AIMIM has seen a sharp drop from 51 candidates in 2017 to 27, while the Samajwadi Party has largely held ground, reducing its tally slightly from 48 to 46. Smaller parties remain marginal, with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) cutting its Muslim candidates from four to two. Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded none in 2026 after nominating four in 2017.

Communal turn in the BMC campaign

The BMC election campaign took a sharp communal turn in the run-up to the January 15, 2026, polls, as the debate over Mumbai’s next mayor shifted from civic governance to questions of religion and identity. The controversy was triggered by Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam, who, while referring to the election of a Muslim mayor in New York, warned voters against a similar outcome in Mumbai.

“We will not allow any Khan to become mayor of Mumbai,” Satam said, framing the issue as a fight against “appeasement politics” and “vote jihad”. He said such a stance was necessary to “protect Mumbai from forces that divide society” and claimed the BJP stood for the city’s unity and cultural identity. Opposition leaders viewed the remarks as an attempt to counter the Shiv Sena UBT-MNS alliance, which was seeking to consolidate Marathi and Muslim votes behind the Thackeray cousins.

The BJP continued to press the issue, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stating that “the next Mumbai Mayor will be Marathi and Hindu”. The Congress and the Shiv Sena UBT criticised these remarks, accusing the BJP of deliberately polarising the civic elections.

Responding to the controversy, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray said, “Show me one election speech of Narendra Modi or Devendra Fadnavis without Hindu-Muslim polarisation. During the Lok Sabha elections, it was mangalsutra chori. Now, for the Mumbai elections, it is Muslim mayor. Why don’t they talk about development? Municipal elections should be about civic facilities, not religion. I am a staunch Hindu, but that does not mean insulting other religions. They are polluting people’s minds.”

Voices from the community

Poor infrastructure remains a reality across large parts of Mumbai, but residents say the problem is more acute in Muslim-dominated areas, marked by overcrowding, poor sanitation and crumbling public facilities. Many young Muslims argue that, along with institutional neglect, the community’s own leadership has failed to consistently push for development or hold elected representatives accountable.

“These communal statements don’t affect us much. What is more frustrating is the lack of capable leaders who know how to get work done in their areas. The community has failed to question its own representatives. People are so caught up in daily survival that they stop caring whether their neighbourhoods are clean or developed,” said a young entrepreneur from central Mumbai.

Others point to long-standing patterns of uneven development. “If development were equal, areas like Govandi, Pathanwadi, Behrampada and Malwani would not look so different from the rest of the city. This has built up over the years. There is a sense of helplessness in taking on both the system and entrenched local leaders,” said Shahid Azmi, a resident of Govandi.

Number of Muslim candidates put up by political parties in the BMC elections-

Note: Several parties that contested the 2017 BMC elections have since split, and their 2026 figures reflect separate factions.