Nearly one in four BMC winners face criminal cases, ADR analysis shows

Nearly one in four winning candidates in the 2026 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls have declared criminal cases against themselves, while close to four-fifths are crorepatis, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The ADR, which studied affidavits of all 227 winning candidates, said 54 winners, or 24 per cent, have declared criminal cases, while 29 candidates, or 13 per cent, face serious criminal charges. The data was compiled along with Maharashtra Election Watch from candidates' self-sworn affidavits filed during the civic polls.

Party-wise analysis showed that 33 per cent of the winners from the BJP have declared criminal cases, followed by 24 per cent from Shiv Sena and 15 per cent from Shiv Sena (UBT), the report said.

The financial profile of candidates also indicated a strong presence of wealthy contestants. Up to 180 of the 227 winners, about 79 per cent, declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, with the average assets of winning candidates pegged at Rs 7.18 crore, ADR said.

Among parties, 76 per cent of BJP winners, 83 per cent from Shiv Sena (UBT), 93 per cent from Shiv Sena and 92 per cent from the Indian National Congress were crorepatis, it added.

The report further noted that 60 per cent of the elected corporators are women, while about 70 per cent fall in the 41-70 age group. Around half of the winners have educational qualifications of graduate level or above.