BJP Dominates Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Civic Polls
The Bharatiya Janata Party delivered a stunning performance in the municipal corporation elections of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad on Friday. The party secured overwhelming majorities in both civic bodies, leaving its rivals far behind.
Landslide Victory in Pune
In the Pune Municipal Corporation, the BJP captured 120 out of 165 seats. This remarkable achievement marks the second consecutive time the party has won the PMC polls with a clear majority. The saffron party's strength has grown significantly since 2017 when it held 97 seats.
The NCP led by Ajit Pawar managed to secure only 20 seats despite forming a pre-poll alliance with Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP). The alliance partner won just 3 seats. The Congress secured 18 seats while Shiv Sena (UBT) won one seat. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and MNS failed to win any seats.
Pimpri-Chinchwad Follows Suit
The BJP repeated its success in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, winning 84 out of 128 seats. This represents only the second time since 1986 that the BJP has gained control of PCMC. The party's previous victory came in 2017 when it ended the NCP's long dominance.
Despite aggressive campaigning by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the NCP could not match the BJP's performance. The united NCP had won 39 seats in 2017 but failed to maintain that strength this time.
Political Reactions
Union Minister and Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol attributed the victory to development work carried out under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He specifically mentioned the metro rail operations and river improvement projects as key achievements that resonated with voters.
"People of Pune do not get misled by wrong statements of the opposition," Mohol stated. "What may come and who may be posing a challenge, the citizens of Pune will always stand by BJP."
Ajit Pawar accepted the public mandate gracefully. "We accept the public mandate and accept the result," he said. "We would work hard again to win the hearts of the public in seats we lost. My congratulations to all who won the election."
Development Agenda Prevails
BJP leaders emphasized that their campaign focused solely on development achievements. Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Shatrughan Kate noted that voters had exceeded their expectations by giving more seats than predicted.
"Our campaign was centered only on the plank of development," Kate explained. "This is because our five-year term only saw huge amount of development. We brought in new projects and we started the stalled projects."
District general secretary Raju Durge credited the victory to the party's implementation of key projects including the Pune Metro, police commissionerate establishment, and court building construction. He noted that Chief Minister Fadnavis had guided their election strategy during a single rally in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
NCP's Unexpected Defeat
NCP leaders expressed surprise at the scale of their defeat. Yogesh Behl, president of the Pimpri-Chinchwad unit of NCP, admitted the results fell below expectations.
"We were expecting 50 of our candidates will win," Behl said. "The result is below our expectation. We will have to analyse what went wrong. Our national president Ajit Pawar had led our campaign aggressively. The voters had responded to it and therefore we will have to analyse where we fell short."
The election results reinforce the BJP's political dominance in Pune region since 2014. The party has consistently won all Lok Sabha elections in the city since that year. It also performed strongly in Assembly elections, winning all eight seats in 2014 and six seats each in 2019 and 2024.
This comprehensive victory establishes the BJP's supremacy in urban Maharashtra's political landscape while raising serious questions about opposition strategies and alliances.
