Pune, Jan 16 (PTI) The BJP has surged ahead of the NCP-NCP (SP) combine, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar, in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad corporations, according to trends
and results of the civic elections so far on Friday.
The BJP has won 29 electoral wards and is leading in 43 others in Pune, as per the data shared by the election department of the civic body.
The Nationalist Congress Party and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) are a distant second, winning three and two seats, respectively, so far, in the 165-member Pune civic body. The trends show the NCP is leading in seven wards, and the NCP (SP) in one ward.
In the 128-member Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body, the BJP is leading in 81 seats, while the NCP is ahead in 36.
Despite being an ally of the BJP in the ruling Mahayuti, the NCP contested civic elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in alliance with the NCP (SP), two years after the bitter break-up.
The Congress has won three seats and is leading in nine in PMC, as per the data.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), which contested the polls in alliance with the Congress, yet to open its account, similar to Shiv Sena, headed by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, which contested the elections without allying with BJP.
The BJP had single-handedly held power in the previous five-year terms from 2017 to 2022 in Pune and PCMC civic bodies, after which the Administrator had control of the civic body.
The BJP is also leading in the Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, and Sangli civic bodies in the western Maharashtra region.
The poll campaign in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad was marked by sharp exchanges between Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and the BJP.
Ajit Pawar had targeted the local BJP leadership over the alleged irregularities in the functioning of the two civic bodies.
In the 102-member Solapur municipal corporation, the BJP is leading in 60 electoral wards, according to trends available till noon.
In the 81-member Kolhapur civic body, Mahayuti partners- the BJP, Shiv Sena, and the NCP- are leading in 25 seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi is ahead in 21 civic wards.
Elections to the 29 municipal corporations were held on January 15 after a gap of several years, with terms of most of them having ended between 2020 and 2023. PTI SPK ARU NSK
