Pune: A spate of resignations and defections across the civic bodies in Pune and Solapur has put the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress on the back foot and has strengthened the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena.
Three sitting corporators from the Sena — Seema Savale, Asha Shendge and Sangeeta Bhondwe — and two from the NCP — Balasaheb Taras and Maya Barne — have stepped down from their posts in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).
All five are expected to enter the BJP, which already has senior NCP leaders like Mahesh Landge and Azam Pansareby, who joined its fold in the PCMC area earlier.
The BJP secured just three seats in the 2012 PCMC polls, as opposed to the NCP, which secured 83 seats. However, the BJP’s win in the 2014 Lok Sabha and the State Assembly elections has changed the political situation in Maharashtra.
Like the NCP in Pune, the Congress is cornered in Solapur. Seven of its corporators from the Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC) have announced their decision to enter the Shiv Sena. The corporators are reportedly close to the Sena’s Solapur in-charge, Mahesh Kothe, who is a former Congressman and a confidante of the district’s Congress stalwart Sushilkumar Shinde.
Mr. Kothe had joined the Sena before the 2014 Assembly polls. He had fought against Mr. Shinde’s daughter Praniti for the Solapur City Central segment, which the latter won by a margin of 9,000 votes.
The Congress had bagged 45 of the 102 seats in the 2012 civic polls, becoming the single-largest party in the SMC.
