Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are scheduled for January 15, after a four-year delay due to litigation and boundary redrawing. The election is a high-stakes battle for control of Asia's richest civic body, with the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction pitching Hindutva against the Thackeray faction's Marathi identity narrative. This election is seen as a crucial test of political equations in Maharashtra following recent party splits and alliances.