Mumbai: Will they, or won’t they? Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad from Sharad and Ajit Pawar factions are strongly in favour of joining hands with each other for the upcoming local body polls.
In fact, the NCP factions have already come together for the local body elections at Kagal, Kolhapur to avoid vote division. Now this possibility at a larger scale was discussed across Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.
One of the factors being cited is that the two factions have fought for long against each other and that their leaders believe joining hands together can keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power in the civic bodies.
“This is an election of ground-level workers and Pawar saheb told us that we should sit together among ourselves on local level and decide,” Sunil Gavhane, a member of NCP (Sharad Pawar) core committee, Pimpri Chinchwad, told ThePrint.
“Besides, we were the second largest party in the 2017 corporation with the BJP as the ruling party. So in order to keep them away, we should come together with dada’s party (Ajit Pawar faction) to increase our strength.”
Similarly, the leaders from Ajit Pawar faction believe that for the NCP, which was the most dominant party in Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), to regain dominance, BJP has to be kept away from power.
“Our ground-level karyakartas (workers) feel that we should come back to power. If we fight separately, the BJP will benefit and our strength will further diminish. Also, though in state we are in power with the BJP, we want here at least to have our own rule without the interference of the BJP,” said an NCP(AP) functionary, who is hopeful of getting a ticket.
In Pune too, local-level leaders are exploring the possibility of joining hands, but there is some resistance within the NCP(SP) camp.
“We are a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and hence no such proposal was sent to Ajit Dada’s faction. However, we will discuss the possibility in a day or two and will reach a final conclusion,” said Prashant Jagtap, city unit chief of NCP(SP).
The NCP has a strong base in western Maharashtra. And so Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad are important twin cities that are currently undergoing a spree of development. For decades, the NCP held strong control over Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad corporations.
But that grip slipped in 2017 when the BJP’s tally jumped to win both these corporations single-handedly. As the cities are growing and metro lines, industries coming in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, the BJP wants to retain power over the corporation.
On the other hand, Ajit Pawar, the guardian minister of Pune, also wants to gain power in these two corporations, especially Pimpri Chinchwad, which saw tremendous growth in the first decade of the century.
Since the NCP was a part of its development, even the Sharad Pawar faction wants a piece of the pie as they were united in the last term. However, with most of the ex-corporators in his nephew’s camp, karyakartas of the Sharad Pawar faction feel their chance to come to power is by joining hands with Ajit Pawar.
“Our grassroot workers also feel that we should not let the BJP win the PCMC and for that our best chance is to be with dada’s faction as we all have worked together earlier. We have always opposed the BJP and so the workers are also on board with the idea of working with our old friends who are with Ajit dada,” said Gavhane.
He said that the core committee even discussed it with the MVA partners—Sena UBT, Congress, even Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and other small parties and that all of them were positive. Any triangular fight, he said, would benefit the BJP alone.
The final decision will be taken by Ajit Pawar in the next few days and that decision will be obliged, insiders from his faction told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Congress approached Ajit Pawar to discuss an alliance for the PCMC elections. There are reports that the Congress sought 20 seats in the 123-member civic body as part of any seat-sharing arrangement.
“Our leaders have asked us to take decision on the local level and our aim is to keep the BJP away, which they have welcomed as well,”
Polling for all 29 municipal corporations will take place 15 January, while the results will be declared 16 January.
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Will the union happen?
In these two corporations, Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had already said that there won’t be any alliance with the NCP (AP) and, in fact, it will be “a friendly fight” between the two parties.
On Thursday, the NCP(AP) held a meeting of workers and leaders to discuss how to go ahead in the civic body polls.
Its state president Sunil Tatkare told the media that the preference and priority would be given to the ruling Mahayuti alliance. “I am not aware of any proposal regarding joining hands with the other NCP. The first preference will be the Mahayuti and then we will see what combinations can be experimented. Nomination filing is still to take place; so, we have time to decide on this,” Tatkare said.
Later, Nana Kate, the election in charge of NCP(AP), said that senior leaders instructed the ground-level leaders to discuss a possibility of alliance to avoid vote division
“A few days ago, Ajit Pawar instructed us to hold talks with the other NCP faction, as they are ready to contest the elections on our symbol. Even Supriya Sule tai (elder sister) recently called me and said that local leaders should discuss among themselves and explore the possibility of fighting together against the BJP to avoid vote division,” he told the media.
Another reason for exploring the bonhomie is the large number of hopeful candidates. Since the elections were taking place after a long time, local leaders told ThePrint that there were many hopefuls who wanted to try their luck. Dissidents and those denied tickets, they said, could join the ruling alliance.
Additionally, most of the local-level karyakartas have been fighting against some partners in their alliance, be it the MVA or the Mahayuti. For instance, the Congress is having friction with the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, or the NCP against the Sena and the BJP.
In such a situation, it is becoming difficult to accommodate everyone in both the ruling and the opposition alliances, a fear even Tatkare voiced.
“In both these places, BJP and NCP are strong. So if we fight together, many who won’t get tickets, will join hands with the Opposition. Hence, we are working towards how to take it forward,” Tatkare told the media.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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