Ajit Pawar’s NCP And Sharad Pawar’s Camp Announce Seat-Sharing As ‘Parivar Comes Together’ – Delhi News Daily

File photos of Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar (PTI)

Days after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party supremo Ajit Pawar confirmed that the two rival factions of the NCP will jointly contest the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections, NCP factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar will also contest the Pune elections together.

According to the sources, Sharad Pawar’s NCP is set to contest on 40 seats, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP will contest on 125 seats.

While announcing the tie-up for the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections, Ajit Pawar, during an election campaign rally, said, “For the sake of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections, the ‘clock’ and the ‘tutari’ (trumpet) have united. The ‘parivar’ (family) has come together.”

Notably, the clock symbol belongs to the undivided NCP and was awarded to Ajit Pawar’s faction by the Election Commission following the group’s recognition as the original party. The Sharad Pawar faction subsequently adopted the ‘tutari’ (curved trumpet) symbol.

The alliances have been forged to ensure that the election battle becomes easier for both factions. The elections to the 29 civic bodies in Maharashtra will be held on January 15. The counting of votes will take place the next day.

The Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations are highly crucial for the Pawar clan, given that several IT and industrial units are located in the jurisdictions of the two civic bodies. The area has remained a bastion of the Pawars for decades.

The rival NCP factions are coming together after a bitter 2023 split that saw Ajit Pawar joining the BJP-led NDA government with loyalist MLAs.

The BJP and Sena, headed by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, have not yet announced a formal decision to join hands in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.

Meanwhile, hectic parleys are also underway between the Congress and its ally in MVA, the Shiv Sena (UBT). It is not yet clear whether the two parties will contest separately or as part of the opposition combine in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.

A total of 165 corporator seats are up for grabs in Pune and 128 in Pimpri Chinchwad. The BJP was in power in both civic bodies from 2017 to 2022. The civic polls had been run by administrators since 2022.