PUNE: It will be a tightrope walk for deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar after the municipal corporation election results, as his party is most likely to be forced to play the role of opposition in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic bodies while being part of the Mahayuti govt in Maharashtra.Going solo, BJP managed to get a clear majority in both these civic bodies. On the other hand, Ajit Pawar joined hands with his estranged uncle Sharad Pawar, but the alliance could win 30 seats in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and 37 seats in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). Though they are in an alliance at the Centre as well as in the state, BJP may not take NCP along, thus leaving it the opposition benches.
Ajit Pawar was quite vocal against the local BJP leadership during the campaign, but he will now be much more measured in his approach, said political observers. Even chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, in his interview to actor Girija Oak in Pune during the campaign, hinted that the deputy CM (Ajit Pawar) would not attack the Mahayuti partners after the civic poll results were declared.“I congratulate BJP for its win in the elections. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis led the campaign and voters responded to them overwhelmingly. We have to respect the mandate,” Ajit Pawar said while interacting with the media in Baramati on Saturday.Mahayuti partners — BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP — contested against each other in several of the 29 municipal corporations that went to the polls on Jan 15. BJP scored the highest by winning 1,425 seats and deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena secured the second spot with 399 seats. Ajit Pawar’s NCP came a distant third with 167 seats despite forging an alliance with Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) that won only 36 seats.NCP got enough seats to get the position of leader of opposition in PMC and PCMC. “During his campaign speeches, Ajit Pawar kept explaining that he does not have any issues with BJP’s central and state leadership and his targets were local BJP members. His speeches were only to highlight the issues in the civic bodies. He will not target BJP any more as he is part of the alliance,” a senior NCP member told TOI.
