The political landscape in Pune took a decisive turn over the weekend as the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Sharad Pawar, officially known as NCP (SP), abandoned efforts to forge an alliance with the rival camp led by his nephew, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The much-anticipated talks between the two NCP groups failed on Friday night, prompting the Sharad Pawar group to swiftly return to its original partners in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition to jointly contest the upcoming Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections.
Alliance Talks Collapse Over Party Symbol
The primary roadblock in the negotiations between the two NCP factions was the insistence by the Sharad Pawar camp that all candidates of any potential alliance must contest on its party symbol – the clock. NCP (SP)'s state president, Shashikant Shinde, confirmed that his party was not willing to compromise on this fundamental point, leading to a lack of consensus. This stalemate ended nearly a week of speculation and meetings, during which Ajit Pawar had been actively camping in Pune to explore options after his Mahayuti partners, the BJP and Shiv Sena, decided to contest the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic polls together.
Subhash Jagtap, the Pune city unit chief of the NCP, acknowledged the disagreements but expressed a lingering hope for a positive outcome from the inter-faction discussions. Despite some office-bearers within the NCP (SP) being strongly in favor of a tie-up with Ajit Pawar's party for the PMC polls, the leadership's stance on the party symbol proved non-negotiable.
MVA Rushes to Finalize Seat-Sharing Formula
Immediately after the breakdown of talks with the Ajit Pawar faction, the NCP (SP) reconvened with its MVA allies. A marathon meeting was held on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, involving representatives from the Congress, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT). An interesting development was the presence of office-bearers from Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) from Pune, even though the party is not an official member of the MVA.
Ankush Kakade, an NCP (SP) member present at the meeting, revealed that the discussion was guided by the opinion of working president Supriya Sule, who advocated for continuing with the long-time MVA allies. "We have started the discussion in the direction of contesting the PMC poll as MVA," Kakade stated. The preliminary seat-sharing formula discussed suggests that the three core allies – Congress, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) – may contest 50 seats each from the total of 165 seats in the PMC.
Quota for Smaller Partners
The remaining 15 seats are likely to be allocated to other alliance partners. A Shiv Sena (UBT) member indicated that since the MNS is not an official partner, it might receive its share of seats from the Sena (UBT)'s own quota. While the final seat-sharing agreement is yet to be cemented, this framework sets the stage for a consolidated opposition front against the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the crucial urban local body elections.
The swift realignment underscores the fluid and competitive nature of Maharashtra's politics, especially in key urban centers like Pune. The failure of the 'family' reunion between the two NCP factions has effectively solidified the existing political battle lines, with the MVA now moving quickly to present a united front for the civic polls.
