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BJP, NCP may settle on 6-2 formula in Pune city
Pune city has eight assembly constituencies among which five are with the BJP and two are currently held by the Nationalist Congress party
After Union Home Amit Shah’s visit to the city on Sunday, it looks like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) may settle on the 6-2 seat sharing formula in Pune for the upcoming state assembly elections.
Pune city has eight assembly constituencies among which five are with the BJP and two are currently held by the Nationalist Congress party.
Commenting on the development, NCP chief Ajit Pawar said, “We have had fruitful discussions with our Mahayuti allies over the seat-sharing formula for the assembly elections and we would continue the discussions with mutual understanding.”
Deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had said that the BJP is likely to contest five seats including Kothrud, Shivajinagar, Khadakwasla, Parvati and Pune Cantonment. “Although the BJP lost the Kasba Peth seat in the by-election, it has a strong base of the BJP,” he said.
Mahayuti allies free to go solo in local body elections: Ajit Pawar
Ajit Pawar has said the Mahayuti constituents, including the NCP led by him, are free to contest local bodies elections independently.
Addressing Nationalist Congress Party workers in Pimpri Chinchwad city on Sunday, he argued that independent contests would help strengthen the cadres.
“Even though we are allies in Lok Sabha and state assembly, Mahayuti members are free to contest local bodies polls independently,” he said.
The schedule for elections to local bodies, which include municipal councils, nagar panchayats and zilla parishads, has not yet been announced.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance includes Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, BJP, and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar.
Notably, Ajit Pawar’s assertion on going solo in the local bodies’ elections came days after a Marathi weekly linked to the RSS blamed Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s alliance with BJP for adverse public sentiments against the saffron party, leading to the BJP’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.
