BJP Ready To Win Big, NCP Aims To Root Out Corruption, AAP Promises Change: Dheeraj Ghate, Prashant Jagtap, Mukund Kirdat Speak Out On PMC Polls
Pune's political ground is set for civic body polls as the Supreme Court directed the Maharashtra government to hold municipal elections within four months.
In the last held 2017 civic polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 97 of the 162 seats in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). With five corporators from other parties joining later, their tally rose to 102. The then-united Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which had ruled PMC from 2007 to 2017, secured 39 seats. Shiv Sena won 10 seats, Congress nine, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) two, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) one, and Independents won four. In the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), the BJP won 77 of the 128 seats in the 2017 civic elections, ending the NCP’s decade-long rule. The NCP won 36 seats, Shiv Sena got nine, the MNS got one and others got the rest. The 2017 civic polls marked a significant rise for the BJP, which had won only 26 PMC seats and three PCMC seats in 2012 and reduced the influence of NCP in the civic bodies in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
What do local leaders say?
Now that the polls will be held after over 8 years, political activity has picked up across both Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad areas. While Devendra Fadnavis has said that the civic polls will be fought in alliance, the voices and speculations on the ground speak a different language, with many wanting to go solo and not in alliance.
Prominent political leaders from Pune city shared their views over the decision and preparations for PMC polls in the upcoming days.
Prashant Jagtap, city president of NCP, said, "We welcome the decision of the Honourable Supreme Court directing elections to all local self-government bodies. Thirty-four people have filed the petition regarding the matter. A wide range of corruption has been done in Pune under the administrative rule. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) is ready to uproot this corruption by restoring elected public representatives in these local self-government bodies across the city."
Dheeraj Ghate, Pune City BJP Chief, speaking to Free Press Journal, said, "We welcome the Supreme Court decision. Bharatiya Janata Party is always ready and accordingly implements their plans. Earlier, there were 100 corporators from the BJP, but the count reached up to 105 after five corporators of Shiv Sena joined BJP. It's up to senior leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party whether BJP will collaborate with Mahayuti or fight independently. Last time our hundred corporators won the local body election. Accordingly, this time we also hope to let them win from their areas, which helps to implement the government schemes more perfectly door to door."
Mukund Kirdat, spokesperson of Maharashtra Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), highlighted, "This is the end era of BJP dictatorship in local governing bodies. After a long wait, Pune is finally heading back to the polls. This time, our intention is not to join hands with any political party in PMC polls. We want to contest independently without any party support. Whatever the result, it is acceptable. It's our internal request from the party. However, the decision taken by the Political Affairs Committee will be welcomed."
The PMC has been under administrative rule since March 14, 2022, following the end of its five-year elected term. Similarly, the PCMC has been under administrative rule since February 13, 2022. According to PMC officials, if the elections are held based on the existing population data and previous ward structure, the city will have 44 wards with four corporators per ward, taking the total to 166 corporators. Until 2022, PMC had 162 corporators—a number likely to rise due to the inclusion of 34 merged villages.
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