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It’s a four-cornered contest for the Pune civic polls
The BJP, which has dominated Pune’s politics in recent years, is contesting all 165 PMC seats with nine seats allotted to the Republican Party of India (RPI)
With the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections scheduled on January 15, 2026, the political scene in the city has turned highly competitive with a four-cornered contest taking shape. Following the nomination withdrawal deadline, the battle for control of Pune’s civic body is expected to be fought between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and a Congress-led alliance comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
The BJP, which has dominated Pune’s politics in recent years, is contesting all 165 PMC seats with nine seats allotted to the Republican Party of India (RPI). The party has launched an aggressive campaign involving door-to-door outreach, public meetings, and targeted campaigning across the city. Senior leaders, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, are actively involved in the campaign. In a bid to counter anti-incumbency, the party has denied tickets to several sitting corporators and fielded new faces instead.
Initially, the BJP had announced that it would contest the PMC polls in alliance with the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction). However, differences over seat-sharing led to a breakdown in talks. As a result, the Shiv Sena distributed over 123 AB forms, signalling preparation for an independent fight. Despite efforts by senior leaders, including minister Uday Samant, to pacify unhappy workers, only 10–12 candidates withdrew their nominations on the final day.
On Friday, Neelam Gorhe, deputy chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, confirmed that the Shiv Sena would contest more than 110 seats. She said that the party had initially demanded 25 seats from the BJP but when the demand was not accepted, it decided to go ahead on its own. Gorhe added that final seat details would be announced soon.
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar announced in Pimpri-Chinchwad that both factions of the NCP—his group and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar)—would contest the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls together. However, he acknowledged that there may be friendly contests in some wards.
Despite being alliance partners in the Mahayuti at the state level, chief minister Fadnavis had earlier clarified that the BJP would not contest the PMC polls with Ajit Pawar’s NCP. Ajit Pawar had initially explored alliances with the Congress and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) but finally decided to join hands with the NCP (SP).
The Congress-led alliance, which includes Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), MNS and other like-minded parties, is also contesting the elections. Congress has distributed 105 AB forms, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS have issued 71 and 43 AB forms, respectively.
Although efforts were made to keep the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) united for the Pune civic polls, talks collapsed at the final stage after NCP (SP) skipped alliance meetings and chose to contest with NCP (Ajit Pawar). Congress leaders say that their campaign will focus on civic issues such as water supply, traffic, roads, basic amenities and inclusive urban development.
Political analysts say that this four-cornered contest is likely to result in narrow victory margins, raising the importance of strong independent candidates and making outcomes in several wards unpredictable.
The PMC elections are being held after nearly a decade, and the elected body will manage a budget of ₹12,618 crore with responsibility for major civic services such as waste management, water supply, and traffic planning.
With less than two weeks left for polling, political parties have intensified campaigning through rallies, padayatras, bike rallies, corner meetings, and extensive door-to-door outreach, signalling an intense finish to the campaign.
