Pune, Dec 29 (IANS) In a significant political development, NCP-SP legislator Rohit Pawar on Monday announced that the two rival factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will contest the upcoming Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections together.

The local-level understanding marks a departure from the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, in which the two factions had contested against each other.

Rohit Pawar’s announcement came a day after NCP chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, during a campaign rally, said that his faction and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP would jointly contest the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections.

Speaking to reporters, Rohit Pawar said the decision was taken in keeping with the “sentiments and wishes of local party workers”, who felt that contesting together would make the electoral exercise smoother at the civic level. He clarified that Sharad Pawar was not directly involved in the decision-making process, but added that the veteran leader had conveyed that the views of ground-level workers should be given priority in municipal elections.

He confirmed that the two factions will neither merge nor contest on a single election symbol. Instead, candidates will contest on their respective symbols — the ‘Clock’ for the Ajit Pawar faction and the ‘Tutari’ (Trumpeter) for the Sharad Pawar faction — in seats mutually allotted to them.

Rohit Pawar said the primary objective of the arrangement is to consolidate the Marathi and traditional NCP vote base to mount a stronger challenge to the BJP in the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad regions.

Earlier, Ajit Pawar, while addressing a high-decibel campaign meeting in Pimpri on Sunday, alleged that a “ring” of vested interests was operating within the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, resulting in exorbitant and unaccounted expenditure.

He also raised concerns over alleged illegal land occupations in the Kudulwadi area.

Meanwhile, the understanding between the two NCP factions has drawn mixed political reactions.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut did not appear welcoming of the development.

The Congress also reacted sharply to the tie-up, stating that it has forged an alliance with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena for the Pune Municipal Corporation elections.

–IANS

sj/pgh