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The party said that the decision marks its formal entry into Mumbai’s civic politics and aims to provide an alternative.
AAP announces it’s foray in the BMC elections. (X/@AAPMumbai)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday released its first list of 21 candidates for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party also announced that it will contest all 227 civic seats in the upcoming elections.
The party said that the decision marks its formal entry into Mumbai’s civic politics and aims to provide an alternative to what it described as decades of misgovernance by established parties.
“Despite being India’s ‘Urbs Prima’, Mumbai is in a mess. BMC has a whopping Rs. 74,447 crore annual budget- the largest in Asia. Mumbaikars pay the highest taxes in the country and yet get shoddy public services,” the AAP said in a statement.
“The BMC is a cesspool of corruption and monumental ineptitude. Every political party has looted Mumbai, prioritising their selfish interests over public good,” the statement quoted AAP’s Mumbai unit chief Preeti Sharma Menon as saying.
She pointed to the closure of BMC-run schools, declining educational standards, lack of functional primary healthcare centres, overburdened public hospitals, and the steady decline of BEST’s bus fleet. She also highlighted issues such as poor garbage management, shrinking green cover, rising pollution levels, and the discharge of untreated sewage into the sea.
The AAP is not just the alternative but the solution, she said, adding that a few good people in the BMC is what Mumbai desperately needs.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh said the party was prepared to offer a governance-focused alternative, citing its record in Delhi and Punjab under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann. “AAP has delivered quality education, healthcare, electricity, and water without corruption and without debt. Mumbai needs the same model,” he said as quoted by news agency IANS.
Singh added that even a small presence in the BMC would ensure meaningful participation. “With just seven corporators, AAP will have a house leader and representation on all statutory committees, including Standing, Improvement, Health, Education, and BEST,” he said.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, AAP got 5.16% of the vote share and over 2,73,000 votes.
BMC Polls
The Mumbai civic body or the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the country’s richest corporation, will go to polls on January 15, with counting of votes on January 16.
The State Election Commission on Monday announced the poll schedule for BMC, along with 28 other civic corporations. As many as 2,869 seats in these municipal corporations will be up for grabs, said State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare, adding that 3.48 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in these major urban centres of the state.
The elections for all 29 corporations, including Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, will be held in a single phase. The code of conduct has come into effect immediately.
December 19, 2025, 19:52 IST
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