The upcoming elections for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are set to be a logistical marathon for candidates, with ten of the city's 41 wards each containing more than one lakh registered voters. This massive electorate presents a significant challenge, especially given the compressed campaign schedule announced by the State Election Commission (SEC).
Tight Schedule and Massive Electorates
A total of about 35.51 lakh voters across all wards are scheduled to cast their votes on January 15 to elect 165 corporators. The political landscape has been under administrators' rule for nearly four years, adding to the stakes. The SEC's announcement on Monday confirmed that results will be declared on January 16.
The crunch, however, lies in the timeline. With the last date for withdrawal of nominations set for January 2, political parties and independent aspirants will have less than two weeks for full-fledged campaigning. This tight window is expected to be particularly daunting for first-time candidates.
Ground Reality in High-Population Wards
The ten wards with electorates exceeding one lakh are predominantly in the newly merged areas of the city. This includes wards like Kharadi-Wagholi and Vimannagar-Lohegaon in the eastern parts, each boasting over 1.15 lakh voters. Similarly, the Balajinagar-Katraj ward has a staggering 1.47 lakh voters on its rolls.
An aspirant from the Sus-Pashan-Baner ward, which has 1,56,000 voters, highlighted the scale. "My ward covers a huge area as it is spread across the old limits and also covers newly merged pockets of Sus and Mhalunge," they said, pointing to the physical challenge of reaching every voter in time.
Early Campaigning and Calls for Delimitation
Faced with this reality, many aspirants have not waited for the official campaign period to begin. A worker from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) noted that the large voter count has prompted early outreach efforts. Aspirants in wards like Kharadi-Wagholi and Undri have already started holding meetings with citizens to avoid a last-minute rush.
This situation has also sparked criticism of the ward delimitation process. Local politicians argue that rapidly growing areas like Wagholi and Lohegaon should have been planned as separate wards. A political worker from Undri agreed, stating that attaching merged areas to old limits has led to a significant and challenging increase in voter counts.
With candidate lists from major parties still awaited, the race against time in Pune's largest wards is truly on. The coming days will test the stamina and strategy of every contender vying for a seat in the civic body.
