With the familiar smiles, folded hands and routine assurances no longer seen as sufficient to sway voters, campaigning ahead of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections has entered an unprecedented
phase, marked by extravagant giveaways and high-value promises.
According to The Times of India, aspirants across party lines are resorting to everything from Paithani saris and bicycles to land plots, luxury vehicles and even foreign holiday packages to attract voters, reflecting how fiercely contested the upcoming civic polls have become.
With the local polls in Maharashtra taking place after a prolonged gap, candidates appear to be leaving no stone unturned.
What were once modest outreach initiatives at the ward level have now transformed into large-scale events featuring sponsored cricket tournaments, music concerts, and lucky draws offering prizes worth lakhs of rupees, the report claimed.
The trend is clearly visible across Pune.
In Ward No. 1, covering Lohegaon and Dhanori, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) aspirant Shashi Tingre drew widespread attention after completing registrations for a lucky draw that promises 11 women a land plot of one guntha (approximately 1,100 square feet) each.
Tingre maintained that the initiative should not be viewed as voter inducement.
“This is about giving women security and dignity through land ownership, not about buying votes,” he was quoted as saying by the report.
In Wagholi, the scale of campaign spending has gone a step further, with some aspirants sponsoring five-day Thailand tours for couples, including visits to Phuket and Krabi.
Meanwhile, in Ward No. 3 of Vimannagar, a women’s group organised a contest styled on a “home minister” format, where winners were rewarded with Paithani saris, according to the report.
Ward No. 10, covering Bavdhan and Bhusari Colony, witnessed similar largesse.
Around 500 girls were given bicycles, while women received sewing machines through an initiative run by the Kiran Dagade Patil Foundation.
In the same ward, aspirant Dilip Vede Patil organised a free music concert for residents.
The pattern extends beyond Pune city limits as well.
In Pimpri Chinchwad, candidate Sanket Barne conducted a lucky draw with an SUV as the top prize, alongside a music concert featuring well-known Bollywood artists.
“We had over 5,000 participants attending our event,” Barne told TOI. Another aspirant from Pimpri, Ashwini More, sponsored a cricket tournament with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
The report claimed that political analysts look at such high-stakes campaigning as reflecting overcrowded tickets, the entry of new aspirants and intense intra-party competition.
Urban policy expert Jyoti Kanade told TOI that campaigns centred on gifts indicate a “transactional approach to democracy, where voters are treated as consumers and elections as investments.”
Political commentator Anand Puntambekar added that delayed elections and rising competition have pushed candidates to prioritise visibility over governance or ideology.
A senior BJP leader, quoted by the report, acknowledged growing pressure on candidates to match or exceed rivals’ offerings but warned that limits must be enforced to prevent excesses.
Elections to 29 civic corporations in Maharashtra, including the Pune Municipal Corporation, are scheduled to be held on January 15, with counting set for January 16.
In the recently concluded municipal council and nagar panchayat polls, the NCP won 966 seats, compared to 256 secured by the NCP (SP), underlining the high political stakes as the state heads into major urban civic elections.
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