Addressing a public rally in Pimpri Chinchwad, Pawar cited examples of his party’s candidates, Amol Balwadkar and Shankar Chinchwade, who switched to the NCP from the BJP, and were given tickets to contest.Pawar said, “The party’s leadership has to take care of its workers and ensure that they get due respect for their work. What was the fault of Balwadkar and Chinchwade? Despite their good work, they were denied tickets for no reason,” he added.Balwadkar is contesting from a PMC ward while Chinchwade is in the fray from a PCMC ward. “Though they came from another party, I honoured their work by giving them tickets. I am sure that the voters will take note of their work,” he added.The BJP governed PMC and PCMC from 2017 to 2022, and Pawar was critical of the party’s performance in both the civic bodies. The BJP leadership hit back, warning Pawar that if they started speaking against him, the NCP chief would be in trouble.Pawar on Tuesday clarified that his target was not the BJP’s central and state leadership but the local party units. “My party is in an alliance with BJP in the Centre where Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put the entire country on the path of development. In the state too, I am working closely with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. I am speaking against those who were ruling in PMC and PCMC where Pune’s development slowed down due to corruption and poor governance in the last eight years,” Pawar said.
