Pune: For the 398 seats across 17 municipal councils in Pune district, 2,671 candidates have filed nominations. For the post of council president in these 17 bodies, 193 candidates have submitted their papers.
In the Baramati Municipal Council, a fresh round of rivalry within the Pawar family is set to play out in the polls, with the Ajit Pawar–led Nationalist Congress Party and the Sharad Pawar–led Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) preparing to contest against each other on their home turf.
Yugendra Pawar, who is overseeing the NCP (SP)’s campaign in Baramati, said voters should now give the NCP (SP)-led alliance an opportunity. “For 25 years, residents handed control of the municipal council to Ajit Pawar. The next five years should go to our alliance. We want to take Baramati’s development to the next stage,” he said.
The municipal council election is scheduled for December 2. The NCP (SP) is fighting the polls in partnership with Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and smaller allies, while the Ajit Pawar faction is contesting alone. Yugendra, Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew, is shaping the alliance’s strategy on the ground.
Last year’s split in the NCP saw Ajit Pawar’s faction field his wife Sunetra against Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar’s daughter, in the Lok Sabha elections. Sule retained the seat. Later, the NCP (SP) nominated Yugendra against Ajit Pawar in the Baramati Assembly race, which Ajit won. With each faction having claimed one electoral victory, the upcoming civic polls mark the first time they will directly face off in Baramati’s local body election.
{{/usCountry}}Last year’s split in the NCP saw Ajit Pawar’s faction field his wife Sunetra against Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar’s daughter, in the Lok Sabha elections. Sule retained the seat. Later, the NCP (SP) nominated Yugendra against Ajit Pawar in the Baramati Assembly race, which Ajit won. With each faction having claimed one electoral victory, the upcoming civic polls mark the first time they will directly face off in Baramati’s local body election.
{{/usCountry}}Yugendra said the alliance partners had agreed that the NCP (SP), given Sharad Pawar’s strong hold in the region, would lead the seat-sharing in Baramati. He announced the alliance’s list of candidates on Monday.
Earlier, Sule had clarified that Yugendra would not be contesting the civic polls himself, and Ajit Pawar too had said that his son Jay Pawar would stay out of the race.
The withdrawal window is from November 19 to 21. Senior leaders from all major parties are currently engaged in persuading multiple aspirants to step aside, especially in seats where nominations have been filed in large numbers.
The main contest is expected to be between the NCP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Baramati Municipal Council recorded the highest interest. For its 41 seats, as many as 298 nominations were filed. For the council president’s post in Baramati, 22 candidates have entered the race.
Elections are being held for the municipal councils of Baramati, Lonavla, Daund, Talegaon Dabhade, Chakan, Phursungi–Uruli Devachi, Saswad, Jejuri, Indapur, Shirur, Junnar, Alandi, Bhor, Rajgurunagar, Vadgaon Maval, Malegaon Budruk and Manchar.
Ajit said, “Our senior leaders were occupied with the scrutiny of nomination forms on Tuesday. The situation will become clearer once the withdrawal deadline ends.”