Pune: Once the curtains fell after weeks of lobbying for nominations, several days of filing of papers and the withdrawal of 969 candidatures on two days, as many as 1,165 candidates remained in the fray for the PMC polls from 41 wards. Friday was the last day for the candidates to pull out from the poll ring. Friday was a busy day. A significant rush was witnessed in the ward offices throughout the day to withdraw candidatures and senior functionaries across party lines were busy convincing rebels and those who filed their nominations as independents to pull out from the race.Among the 41 wards, Yerawada-Gandhinagar ward and Phulenagar-Nagpur Chawl ward topped the list with 43 candidates each in the poll ring. These wards cover the city’s western parts along Nagar Road and Airport Road, and densely populated areas such as Nagpur Chawl. Suncity-Manikbaug ward on Sinhagad Road has just seven, the lowest number of contestants. This is a ward from where two BJP candidates emerged as unopposed winners after other contestants withdrew on Friday. Suncity-Manikbaug is the only ward with fewer than 10 candidates in the fray.On the last day of nominations, as many as 2,134 candidates had filed their papers. Of these, 45% withdrew. The 1,165 candidates who decided to remain in the race are fighting for 165 seats in 41 wards. Of these, 40 wards will have four corporators each, while Ambegaon-Katraj ward will have five corporators. Over 35.51 lakh voters are listed in the 41 wards and will cast their votes on Jan 15. More candidates are contesting the PMC polls this time compared with the previous polls held in 2017, when 1,090 candidates were in the fray. Sources from political parties said that a significant gap of nine years (2017 to 2026) in PMC polls, besides major political parties including the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP fighting the PMC polls solo, are reasons for the increase in candidatures.Meanwhile, officials from the PMC’s election office said that symbols will be allotted to the independent candidates on Saturday. They said that the administration is also working on the polling station-wise voting lists. These lists are expected to be declared in the next few days.
