In a sharp escalation of tensions within Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti alliance, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar launched a direct attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief blamed the BJP for the severe financial crisis plaguing the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), as the allies prepare to face off in the upcoming civic elections.
Allegations of Mismanagement and Corruption
Addressing citizens during his election campaign, Ajit Pawar painted a stark picture of PCMC's financial health. He asserted that during the NCP's earlier tenure, the civic body maintained a healthy surplus with fixed deposits of around Rs 3,000 crore. He claimed this reserve should have grown to approximately Rs 10,000 crore by now.
Instead, Pawar alleged, the BJP's rule over the last nine years led to rampant mismanagement. "The current leadership misused public funds to benefit their associates and relatives," he charged. He stated that due to this alleged corruption, PCMC is now burdened with roughly Rs 4,000 crore in outstanding dues to contractors.
Pawar specifically accused BJP corporators and office-bearers of inflating project costs. He listed several initiatives, including the installation of CCTV cameras, laying of optic fibre cables, and the Smart City project, as being "full of corruption." Public funds, he claimed, were funneled to provide financial gains to party workers, leaders, and relatives of the ruling party's representatives.
Political Barbs and Unlikely Stage Sharing
The deputy CM also took a swipe at the BJP for welcoming leaders his own party had previously accused of wrongdoing. "They (BJP leaders) made allegations against my party's leaders. Now, those whom they blamed are with them, and that party gave tickets to them," Pawar remarked.
He suggested that former NCP corporators who recently joined the BJP did so to resolve financial pressures, having received assurances of support from civic contractors and the BJP itself.
In a curious political spectacle, despite the ongoing war of words over corruption, Ajit Pawar shared the stage with his nephew and political rival, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar, at rallies on the same day.
Alliance Strain and Partner Withdrawal
The pre-poll climate witnessed further turmoil as a key alliance partner decided to exit. Sachin Kharat, chief of the Republican Party of India (Kharat faction) and an ally of Ajit Pawar's NCP, announced his withdrawal from the civic polls.
Kharat stated his decision was due to not receiving a "respectable number of seats" from the coalition. He clarified, "I am not extending my or my party's support to anybody now."
This exit followed controversy over the alliance's ticket distribution. The coalition had officially nominated two family members of arrested gangster Bandu (Suryakant Andekar): his daughter-in-law Sonali Andekar and sister-in-law Laxmi Andekar. Both are accused in the murder of Ayush Komkar. NCP leaders indicated these tickets were allotted to Sachin Kharat's party quota.
Ajit Pawar's aggressive stance underscores the fierce competition expected in the Pune civic polls, where alliance partners are fighting as rivals. His focus on PCMC's finances aims to directly question the BJP's administrative record and governance in the crucial industrial belt, setting the stage for a contentious electoral battle.
