Allies clash in PCMC race

MAHAYUTI FRICTION | MVA courts Ajit Pawar's NCP as BJP and Shiv Sena push ahead; leaders openly defy ‘friendly contest’ line

- Varad Bhatkhande

Ahead of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) polls, the city's political landscape is diverging sharply from the rest of Maharashtra, with parties exploring alliances that cut across state-level equations.

All three parties of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have reached out to the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), signalling readiness to form any alliance needed to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Senior leaders have said local leadership will take the final call, driven by a shared objective of defeating the BJP.

Manoj Kamble, a Congress Election Committee member, said, “It has been decided at the local level to form an alliance with whoever opposes the BJP; the senior leadership has issued similar orders. Ajit Pawar’s NCP has a strong presence in the city, which is why we have given them a proposal for an alliance.”

Gautam Chabukswar, Shiv Sena (UBT) district president, said the MVA has been “mentally prepared” to contest with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. NCP (SP) Pimpri-Chinchwad city president Tushar Kamathe earlier said local leaders were open to an alliance if seniors permitted it.