Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar on Sunday announced his party would part ways with the ruling Mahayuti coalition for local body elections, but said it will remain with the coalition for Assembly polls.
The announcement comes after two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) linked publications, Organiser and Vivek, pinned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)‘s poor performance in Maharashtra during the Lok Sabha election on the NCP.
“I want to say one thing, Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly will be contested unitedly as part of Mahayuti. However, the multiple local bodies have to be contested independently by the political parties, be it municipal corporations, municipal councils, zilla parishad and nagar panchayat. All these have to be contested independently by the NCP,” Mr. Pawar said, addressing a gathering of party workers in Pune’s Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Organiser and Vivek had squarely pinned the blame on Mr. Pawar and his party for BJP’s lacklustre Lok Sabha performance in Maharashtra. Of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, BJP’s count dropped from 23 in 2019 to just nine in the recently concluded polls. The NCP fielded candidates on four seats and bagged only one.
Since the appearance of the two articles, the Opposition has been stating that through these publications, the BJP has been asking Mr. Pawar to quit Mahayuti alliance.
According to Mr. Pawar, going solo in the local bodies will help strengthen the party. Elections for the local bodies are yet to be scheduled.
Civic elections are due for 23 municipal corporations as well as 226 municipal councils and nagar panchayats. The term of these local bodies have expired in the last four years. These civic bodies are currently operating with a bureaucrat being appointed as an Administrator, without any elected representatives
Mr. Pawar called Pimpri-Chinchwad an area synonymous to himself as he was the one who developed Pune’s extension to the area.
“There were many small villages in this area. It was our government that developed the area and got the Information Technology sector, created employment opportunities and changed the face of this area,” the Deputy Chief Minister.
Earlier this week, nearly 25 office-bearers and workers of NCP from Pune’s Pimpri-Chinchwad region, including the area’s head Ajit Gavhane had joined Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction.
