After a disappointing outcome in the municipal elections, where both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) contested together, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has begun preparations for the upcoming Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections. Pawar has taken personal charge of the process, holding interviews with aspirants from both NCP factions and guiding newly elected corporators from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
His active involvement, ranging from candidate selection to strategy meetings has fuelled political speculation that Ajit Pawar is steadily consolidating control over the party space traditionally associated with the Sharad Pawar-led faction.
In the Pune Municipal Corporation elections, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP secured 27 seats, while the Sharad Pawar faction managed to win just three. The gap was even wider in Pimpri-Chinchwad, where Ajit Pawar’s group won 37 seats, leaving the Sharad Pawar-led NCP without a single victory.
Following the results, Ajit Pawar convened a meeting to brief newly elected corporators on governance and organisational functioning. Notably, three corporators from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP in Pune also attended the meeting. During the interaction, Pawar urged corporators from both factions to adopt an aggressive and visible approach in addressing civic issues.
His decision to personally interview aspirants from the Sharad Pawar faction and offer guidance to newly elected representatives has intensified speculation in political circles that Ajit Pawar is seeking to politically absorb the rival faction’s grassroots leadership.
According to Sources, the ‘Tutari Wajavinara Manus’ symbol, associated with the Sharad Pawar faction, will not be seen in the upcoming rural local body elections, marking a significant realignment in Maharashtra’s NCP politics ahead of the crucial polls.
A key decision has been taken ahead of the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections. Candidates from both NCP factions are set to contest the polls on the Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s ‘clock’ election symbol. Reinforcing this shift, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MP Amol Kolhe has publicly stated that he too will contest future elections on the ‘clock’ symbol.
