Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar lose their Hadapsar leaders to Ajit Pawar-led NCP

He said there are a few former corporators and leaders of the NCP (SP) who have decided to join the NCP, and they include Yogesh Sasane, Nilesh Magar and Badutatya Gaikwad.

Babar was elected to the Maharashtra Assembly from the Hadapsar constituency in 2009 as a Shiv Sena candidate. He lost to BJP candidate Yogesh Tilekar in 2014.

Last year, he sought a party candidature to contest the Assembly elections but was denied as the seat was contested by the NCP(SP) in seat seat-sharing arrangement within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). After that, he revolted and openly campaigned for Opposition candidate Chetan Tupe of the NCP, who was re-elected to the Maharashtra Assembly for the second time consecutively. Babar was elected to PMC as a corporator before that.

Sasane and Gaikwad were NCP corporators in the previous five-year term of the PMC until 2022. Magar was a corporator before that.

Babar and all three former corporators joining the NCP are from Hadapsar, and the current city NCP(SP) chief Prashant Jagtap is also from the same area, and had contested against legislator Tupe in the Maharashtra Assembly elections last year.

The PMC elections have been delayed, and the civic body has been under the administrator’s rule since 2024. In May this year, the Supreme Court directed the Maharashtra Government to conduct local body elections within four months.