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Ajit Pawar defends ticket allocation to candidates with criminal cases; takes on BJP over Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday defended his party’s decision to give tickets to candidates with criminal backgrounds for upcoming civic elections, claiming he himself faced allegations of orchestrating a ₹70,000 crore irrigation scam and asserted no one is a criminal till proven guilty
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday defended his party’s decision to give tickets to candidates with criminal backgrounds for upcoming civic elections, claiming he himself faced allegations of orchestrating a ₹70,000 crore irrigation scam and asserted no one is a criminal till proven guilty.
Responding to criticism from Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murlidhar Mohol, who had accused the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of fielding candidates with criminal links, he said, “Everybody knows that allegations of a ₹70,000 crore irrigation scam were levelled against me. Today, I am in power alongside those who made those allegations. Can a person be labelled guilty even before it is proved?”
The NCP, allied with the Republican Party of India (RPI) and NCP (SP) in parts of the region, has given electoral tickets to Sonali Andekar and Laxmi Andekar, both accused in the high-profile murder of Ayush Komkar, the grandson of gang leader Suryakant Bandu Andekar, and currently in jail.
Pawar attacks BJP in Pimpri-Chinchwad
Pawar launched an attack on the BJP’s governance record in Pimpri-Chinchwad. He accused the BJP of plunging the civic body into debt and mismanagement during its rule.
Pawar claimed that Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) deposits fell from ₹4,844 crore to around ₹2,000 crore under BJP leadership. He alleged rampant corruption, saying funds were withdrawn as loans with little to show in tangible development.
Pawar also criticised traffic congestion and poor infrastructure, claiming that roads had narrowed and city travel had deteriorated under the BJP administration.
Pawar went further, claiming that under the BJP rule, various mafia activities have taken root in Pimpri-Chinchwad. He alleged that land and excavation mafias operate with impunity, pointing to widespread roadside digging by telecom companies without proper oversight. He said local areas had become lawless, with “gangs roaming in broad daylight.”
He also accused ruling party workers of intimidating independent candidates to withdraw their nominations, claiming one contender was forcibly taken and pressured to pull back their candidacy.
He also alleged the BJP for pressurising his candidates to join the BJP and said, “They claimed that they have already managed 2,000 votes in the EVM machine. But here I want to clarify that no one can do this with EVM machines.”
Pawar’s criticism comes amid a highly competitive civic election season in the state, where multiple parties — including the BJP, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, united with the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP, Shiv Sena, Congress and allied groups — are vying for control of urban local bodies. His remarks reflect growing tensions between the state government coalition partners and the BJP as civic polls approach.
Despite the controversy, Pawar reiterated his belief in democratic fairness and due process, saying that decisions on ticket distribution are based on political strategy and legal rights. He appealed to voters to judge candidates on performance and future vision rather than past allegations alone.
Pawar also spoke of the Pawar family legacy by referring to development work carried out under the NCP’s earlier leadership of the region, including praising the contributions of senior leader Sharad Pawar. Notably, promotional banners for the upcoming elections featured Sharad Pawar’s photograph alongside party symbols, sparking questions about the future of the NCP’s internal dynamics. When asked whether the senior Pawar’s image would continue to be used prominently, Ajit Pawar responded with a symbolic one-line remark that , “Tumchya Tondat Sakhar Pado. (bless you for saying that).
