Pune: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP on Wednesday targeted BJP over the lack of basic infrastructure in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad and highlighted five issues — pathetic roads and traffic congestion, water shortage, inefficient healthcare, poor garbage management, and deterioration of environment — as part of its campaign for the Jan 15 polls to the two municipal corporations.Earlier in the day, Ajit Pawar held a road show covering some wards to campaign for his party’s candidates for the PMC poll. After that he rolled out the campaign, ‘Ek Alarm, Paach Kaam’ (one alarm, five works), by releasing a song. “This campaign is limited to PMC and PCMC. We are trying to attract the attention of the administration towards the burning issues which both the civic bodies have been facing for the last seven to eight years,” Ajit Pawar said.BJP governed both the corporations from 2017 to 2022 and since then they have been run by administrators. The NCP chief said, “By governing PCMC for 25 years, I set an example about how to run a civic body. However, the functioning of both the corporations has been quite disappointing since 2017 and people are suffering because of corruption in these civic bodies.” Though BJP and NCP are alliance partners in Mahayuti at the Centre and in the state, the parties have been at loggerheads during the campaigning for the PMC and PCMC elections. The senior BJP leadership warned Ajit Pawar against criticisng their party, but the latter continued his attack against his ally. Ajit Pawar, who is also Pune’s guardian minister, said, “My objection is to the poor performance of the local leadership which was governing these civic bodies. The Centre and the State govt were sending enough funds, but the people responsible for the governance failed miserably in utilising them.”While listing the civic problems that people in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad are facing, he said he would release his party’s manifesto on Jan 10, when he would suggest solutions.
