Pune: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Nationalist Congress Party are reaching out to their erstwhile coalition partners ahead of the civic polls in Pune.
The BJP appears in the lead in Pune following a spate of major defections from the NCP and the Congress. However, the outcome of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls seems unpredictable.
In the 2012 elections, no party could secure a clear majority, with the NCP gaining the maximum seats (51) in the then 152-member civic body. With this in mind, the NCP and the Congress recently held the first round of talks for a proposed alliance in the PMC polls.
While the NCP has sought to contest on 116 seats, it has left the door open for negotiation on seat-sharing. The PMC general body has expanded to 162 seats in the upcoming polls. “We will not be adamant on this issue. We can always scale down our demand by eight or ten seats. The aim is to remain fair in a coalition and unite parties with similar thought and ideology,” NCP Pune unit head Vandana Chavan said.
Both, the Congress and the NCP, have preferred to let local leaders and their city units settle the issue of pre-poll alliances.
Earlier, Congress State President Ashok Chavan had said in Mumbai that a proposed alliance with the NCP fell through for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as the city’s local leaders did not want to join hands with the Sharad Pawar-led party.
The NCP emerged as a dominant party in the Pune district after the 2012 elections. While it was the largest party in the PMC, it swept the PCMC for the second consecutive time, securing 83 of 128 seats.
This time, however, the BJP feels it stands a good chance in the PCMC polls, owing to the defections of several NCP heavyweights in that area, into the party.
However, the BJP secured just three seats in the 2012 PCMC polls, and according to analysts, the party is still nervous about a majority.
‘Alliance a necessity’
This has led many in the party to feel that an alliance with the Shiv Sena is essential to dislodge the NCP in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Members hopeful of this alliance on both sides have said that the BJP and the Sena could reach a consensus by the end of this month.
“While there has been no concrete talks on seat-sharing, we are hoping to reach a definite decision on an alliance with the Sena before January 28,” the BJP’s legislator for Chinchwad, Laxman Jagtap, said.
