The BJP-led Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are locked in a close contest in the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, with vote counting for the 81-member civic body underway since 10 am on FridayAs of 1 pm, the Mahayuti was leading in 25 seats, while the MVA was ahead in 21 wards.Within the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP contested 36 seats, the Shiv Sena 30, and the NCP six. In the MVA camp, the Congress contested 75 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) fielding candidates in the remaining six wards.Polling for the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, along with elections to 28 other civic bodies across Maharashtra, was held on Thursday.The BJP is also poised to secure the mayor’s post in Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), where, along with its ally Shiv Sena, it is on track to record its highest-ever tally. For 27 years, the BMC was controlled by the undivided Shiv Sena, until the party split in 2022 into factions led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray, whose father Bal Thackeray founded the party in 1966.The BMC is the richest municipal corporation in India and among the wealthiest in Asia, with an annual budget of Rs 74,400 crore for 2026–27