NCP banks on members’ strength, BJP on recent inroads to stake claim to Pune MLC seat

PUNE: The tussle between the Mahayuti allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), over the Pune Member of Legislative Council (MLC) seat intensified on Sunday after the city unit of the NCP formally staked its claim, asserting that the party has the highest number of members in local bodies across the district.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, NCP city president Sunil Tingre and working president Pradeep Deshmukh said the party has 371 of the total 867 members in various local bodies across the district.

“Pune district has traditionally been a bastion of the NCP. Under the leadership of Ajit Pawar, the party has steadily strengthened its organisational network across the district over the years. Therefore, the NCP has a natural and legitimate claim over the Pune local authorities constituency seat,” Tingre said.

The development has fuelled speculation of a possible friendly contest between the two ruling allies. Ganesh Bidkar, the BJP’s leader of the house in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), on Saturday said, “We secured a clear majority in both PMC and PCMC (Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) elections. The BJP has a significant presence in the rural parts of Pune district. Several independents and other members are supporting us. Considering this strength, we believe that the BJP should contest the seat, and this demand has already been conveyed to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP president Ravindra Chavan.”

Bidkar said he is interested in contesting the election and he already conveyed it to the party leadership. “The seat may have been held by the NCP, but political equations change over time. At present, the BJP has emerged as a strong force in the district,” he said.

Reacting to his claim, Tingre said, “It is inappropriate for someone to stake claim to this seat merely for political positioning or to create unnecessary controversies. As an alliance partner, the NCP has always maintained a cooperative and coordinated approach within the Mahayuti. Therefore, we expect the same cooperation from our allies regarding a seat that rightfully belongs to us.”

Decisive Role Looms For Sena, Cong & NCP (SP)

The Election Commission of India has announced polls for 16 legislative council seats from local authorities constituencies across Maharashtra.

Alongside these elections, a bypoll will also be held for the Nagpur MLC seat, which fell vacant after BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule was elected to the state assembly and subsequently resigned from the legislative council.

Voting for the Pune local authorities and other constituencies is scheduled on June 18, while counting of votes will take place on June 22.

The seat was previously held for two consecutive terms by former MLC Anil Bhosale of the undivided NCP. Before him, several senior NCP leaders, including Vandana Chavan and the late Laxman Jagtap, represented the constituency.