Decoding Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic polls: Landslide win for BJP, combined NCPs no match, Congress struggles

Two-Thirds Majority For Saffron Party In Pune & Pimpri Chinchwad | 14 Months After Powering Mahayuti Back To Office In State, Devendra Fadnavis Crafts Stunning Victories. Combined NCPs No Match As Lotus Blooms Again In Both Civic Bodies, Cong Struggles

PUNE: The two NCP groups forged an alliance in the hopes of recapturing the bastions in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad which the united NCP held for several terms and lost in 2017. But those dreams faded away on Friday when BJP won both municipal corporations with clear majorities and did even better than the last time.




In the 165-member PMC, BJP won 116 seats, while NCP secured victory in 21 seats and Congress won in 15 at the time of going to press. Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) won just three seats while Sena UBT won one seat.

Counting for the rest of the seats was still on.

In Pimpri Chinchwad, the second municipal corporation in Pune metropolitan region where BJP and both NCPs were the main contenders for its 128 seats, the former retained its dominance by winning 84 seats as against NCP’s 37. Shiv Sena bagged six and an Independent won 1. NCP (SP) didn’t win any seat.

The NCP-NCP (SP) alliance’s loss has chipped away the political influence Ajit Pawar and his uncle, veteran politician Sharad Pawar, once had in both cities and the latter now has to look for options to survive as a party.

On Friday, after the poll results were out, deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar said people’s mandate is supreme, and he accepted it with all humility. “While we could not achieve the expected success, I want to assure people that we will work with greater responsibility, honesty and double the vigour to regain their trust,” he said.

An upbeat BJP claimed that residents of Pune voted in favour of development. Union minister of state and Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol, who was the election in-charge for BJP in Pune, said, “The results make it clear that the voters once again have shown faith in BJP, as they know ours is the only party which works for development.”

Mohol: BJP will ensure promises are delivered

Union minister of state and Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol, who was the election in-charge for the party in Pune, said, “During the entire campaign, our focus was on the development plank and we did not get into personal attacks against anyone. Now, our party will ensure it delivers the promises we made in our manifesto.”

When the municipal corporation polls were announced a month ago on Dec 15, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis clarified that the BJP would form an alliance with Shiv Sena and have friendly fights with Ajit Pawar’s NCP in both PMC and PCMC.

While the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance did not work out in both the civic bodies, Ajit Pawar took the lead and managed to convince the other NCP group to ally in both civic bodies.

The elections between BJP and the NCPs were hotly contested. Ajit Pawar took on the local BJP leadership and levelled charges of corruption against them in both PMC and PCMC while campaigning in Pune.

Fadnavis, during his rallies in Pune, avoided responding to his deputy’s comments, but other BJP functionaries, including state chief Ravindra Chavan and MLA Mahesh Landge, criticised Pawar’s statements. The BJP also reminded Ajit Pawar about the allegations against him in an irrigation scam case.

Other political parties failed to exploit the political space amid the war of words between the NCPs and the BJP in Pune. The other MVA partners, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), joined hands, while Uddhav Thackeray's party shared the seats with MNS from its quota in PMC and PCMC. However, the opposition's alliance failed to make any impact throughout the election process.

Mohan Joshi, Congress’s state vice president, said, “It was match-fixing between the BJP and the NCP in Pune. They tried to occupy political space by making allegations against each other. The BJP misused its position in govt to restructure wards as per its convenience."