Political parties realign in quest for BMC

As India’s richest local body goes to polls this week, Indivjal Dhasmana explains why political alliances are being reshaped and reimagined

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After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost to the Congress in Uttarakhand’s first Assembly elections in 2002, a senior BJP leader had remarked: “What a big deal? Even BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) has a bigger budget than Uttarakhand’s.”

Though it was political rhetoric, his comments were not completely off the mark. Even now, the size of Uttarakhand and BMC budgets are almost the same. The BMC has pegged the size of its budget at ₹74,367 crore for 2025-26 (FY26), while Uttarakhand has projected it at ₹75,170 crore. Further, the BMC’s budget is pegged higher than that of Haryana, Goa, and the Northeastern states (barring Assam) for FY26.