In a sharp escalation of political hostilities ahead of the Pune Municipal Corporation elections, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar launched a counterattack against Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol on Saturday, January 3, 2026. Pawar's retort came in response to Mohol's criticism of the NCP for fielding candidates with criminal backgrounds.
The Allegation and the Counterattack
Murlidhar Mohol, the BJP leader, had earlier targeted the Ajit Pawar-led NCP for distributing election tickets to individuals accused in murder cases who are currently in jail. Mohol urged all political parties to keep criminals out of electoral politics and called on Pawar, who is also Pune's Guardian Minister, to scrutinize his own party's candidate list.
Ajit Pawar, however, turned the tables with a pointed accusation. He stated that everyone is aware of who assisted a notorious goon, Nilesh Ghaiwal, in fleeing the country after being booked for a serious offence. "Everyone knows who helped a notorious goon flee the country by enabling him to get a passport," Pawar declared, taking a direct jibe at Mohol.
Defending NCP's Candidates and Attacking BJP
Pawar defended his party's selection of candidates by emphasizing the legal principle of innocence until proven guilty. He argued that those fielded by the NCP are merely accused and have not been convicted. To illustrate his point, he referenced the massive Rs 70,000 crore corruption allegation once leveled against him, noting that he now sits alongside his former accusers in the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
The NCP chief did not stop there. He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of hypocrisy, claiming that the BJP itself has fielded candidates whose family members are booked for serious crimes. This exchange underscores the intense and bitter rivalry between the two Mahayuti partners as they contest separately in the crucial Pune civic polls.
A Broader Critique of BJP's Civic Governance
Moving beyond the personal duel, Ajit Pawar mounted a comprehensive critique of the BJP's previous tenure controlling the Pune civic body. He blamed the city's worsening civic problems on the failure of the local BJP leadership.
Pawar asserted that traffic congestion, air pollution, and river pollution all increased during BJP's rule, adversely affecting citizens' health. He attributed these failures to a lack of proper planning, vision, and administrative control over the past nine years, which he claimed stunted Pune's development.
This political skirmish, set against the backdrop of the imminent January 2026 civic elections, highlights the escalating tensions within the ruling coalition at the state level and sets the stage for a fiercely contested battle for control of Pune's municipal corporation.
