‘Ajit Pawar has led from the front’: NCP unit in Pimpri-Chinchwad shows which way it’s leaning

There are, however, a few leaders who are not so keen on such a move.

In 2017, 36 NCP corporators had been elected in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections. After the civic body's term ended in March 2022, it has been governed by the administrator. (Express Photo)

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With Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs joining hands with the Shinde-Fadnavis government, the NCP unit in Pimpri-Chinchwad has indicated that it will follow their leader who was “instrumental in the rapid development” of the industrial city when the party ruled the municipal corporation for more than a decade.

There are, however, a few leaders who are not so keen on such a move.

On Sunday, when Ajit Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister, some of his close associates from Pimpri-Chinchwad were present at the ceremony in Mumbai. A few more met him on Monday to offer their congratulations and bouquets. Ajit Pawar is learnt to have told them that the party was united and would remain so.

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“Many of us have met Ajit Dada in the last two days. Among those were former PCMC corporators who had been elected in the 2017 elections,” said Ajit Gavahane, president of Pimpri-Chinchwad’s NCP unit.

Asked whether the unit was with Ajit Pawar or Sharad Pawar, Gavahane said they were with the Nationalist Congress Party. “We still believe that the NCP is one and a united party. Both Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar are our leaders,” he said. “We are expecting things to become clear after the party meeting on July 5,” he said.

In 2017, 36 NCP corporators had been elected in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections. After the civic body’s term ended in March 2022, it has been governed by the administrator.

Acknowledging that the Pimpri-Chinchwad unit is inclined towards the Ajit Pawar camp, Gavahane said, “This is because Ajit Pawar has led from the front. He has built the party in Pimpri-Chinchwad and has been instrumental in the rapid development of the industrial city,” added Gahavane.

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“He has been a Deputy Chief Minister for a long time and given quick sanctions to development projects. No other NCP leader has taken much interest in the development of Pimpri-Chinchwad. Several NCP leaders here are close to Ajit Pawar and share a good bond with him,” he added.

But still, Gavahane said, they were not openly siding with any camp. “We are hoping that some solution will be worked out and the party will stay united. We can’t believe that the NCP will be divided into two camps. It is not in the interests of the party,” he said. Asked about the conversation with Ajit Pawar, Gavahane said, “He told us that the NCP is united and Sharad Pawar will be our leader. And therefore, we still believe that we are in NCP and not in any camp.”

Prominent among the former NCP corporators who met Ajit Pawar in the last two days include Sanjog Waghere, Bhausaheb Bhoir and Prashant Shitole. “We have been working closely with Ajit Pawar for years now. We will support whatever decision he takes. At the same time, I want to say that in the coming days, things will be sorted out and the party will remain united. I am in NCP and NCP is my party like it is for several of us,” said Nana Kate, another former corporator.

However, former mayor Yogesh Behl, who was considered close to Ajit Pawar, struck a discordant note. “I would prefer to back Sharad Pawar. It is a matter of principles. There are some values and principles that you cherish in life. I want to stand by them,” he said.

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“From the statements made by both Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar, I strongly feel that things will be sorted out and NCP will come before the people as a united force. Every leader should make an attempt to ensure that the party remains a single unit. Otherwise, it will be difficult to face the voters,” he said.

Manoj Dattatrye More

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades. Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died. Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More

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