PCMC campaign heats up

Mahayuti allies trade sharp barbs as Pimpri-Chinchwad emerges as key battleground ahead of polls

- Gaurav Kadam

Move over Mumbai and Pune, because the real political heat for the Jan 15 municipal polls is being felt in Pimpri-Chinchwad, where Mahayuti allies—the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)—are at each other's throats.

The NCP, which ruled the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) for nearly two decades, is making a determined bid to regain power from the BJP, which formed the civic body for the first time with a clear majority in 2017. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is spearheading the campaign, alleging that the civic administration has witnessed immense corruption under the BJP and has been pushed into a debt-ridden state.