The Bharatiya Janata Party is confident of getting a majority in the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation (PCMC), which is the stronghold of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The BJP, which secured just three seats in the 2012 civic elections, is confident of getting more than 60 seats this time, according to party sources.
Earlier the Sharad Pawar-led NCP had bagged majority in 2012 and 2007 Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls.
The party had won 83 seats out of the 128-member civic body in 2012, and 70 seats out of the then-105 member body in 2007.
With former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar leading its campaign, the NCP’s poll plank stresses on the improved infrastructure in the PCMC area over the last decade; its wide roads, open spaces, green pockets, and the thriving Pimpri-Chinchwad MIDC.
However, in the run-up to the 2017 civic polls, the influential leaders of the NCP have defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The switching of sides by party leader and former Mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad, Azam Pansare — who was reportedly close to Mr. Pawar — to BJP, is the high-point of the defections since 2014.
Mr. Pansare’s rival, Laxman Jagtap joined the BJP in 2014, while Mahesh Landge, the legislator from Bhosari, joined the party along with five other NCP corporators in October last year. In December the same year, the party suffered another setback as Yashwant Bhosale, considered as Ajit Pawar’s confidante, joined the BJP.
However, the defections could be a double-edged sword, especially in the matter of ticket allocation.
The BJP loyalists are upset over the inclusion of the NCP leaders, whom they suspect may be given preference owing to their clout.
Another problem could arise if the BJP contests the PCMC with its coalition partner, the Shiv Sena.
The alliance could aggravate the problem of seat sharing in the PCMC. The predominant mood among BJP leaders is that the party should go it alone as most of the weighty defectors have joined their fold and not the Sena’s.
Talks of an alliance between the NCP and its erstwhile partner the Congress have also been frigid.
“We may have only one corporator in Pimpri, and two in Chinchwad. But several top NCP leaders have joined us,” the BJP’s General Secretary in the PCMC unit, Sarang Kamtekar, said.
