Shiv Sena, NCP eager to join hands for PCMC polls, Congress likely to go solo
🔴. In the 2017 election, Shiv Sena managed to win only nine seats while NCP currently has 46 corporators. Congress, which had ruled Pimpri-Chinchwad for three terms, had drawn a blank with all its candidates defeated by big margins.
Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Joshi (81) died on Thursday evening at Jaslok hospital due to Parkinsonism and age related issues. He was one of the founding members of Shiv Sena. (File)
With the civic election fast approaching, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena seem to be inching closer to striking a pre-poll alliance in the industrial city of Pimpri-Chinchwad. The Congress, which has already announced its intention to contest on its own, is unlikely to join hands although the three parties are constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Barne Saturday said, “Although a final decision on the alliance will be taken by the party leadership, I can say we are positive about such an alliance.”
You have exhausted your monthly limit of free stories.
Read more stories for free with an Express account.
Barne’s reaction comes a day after NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar expressed the possibility of his party joining hands with Shiv Sena for the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) polls due in February 2022.
“Shiv Sena is ready to tie up with NCP for the PCMC polls. Therefore, the NCP has also made up its mind to go with Shiv Sena,” Pawar had said while addressing party workers at Gurav Pimple area of Pimpri-Chinchwad on Friday.
However, in the same breath, setting the tone for the alliance talks, Pawar added, “Those who wish to join hands with NCP should take into consideration our strength in Pimpri-Chinchwad before holding seat-sharing talks.”
In the 2017 election, Shiv Sena managed to win only nine seats while NCP currently has 46 corporators. Congress, which had ruled Pimpri-Chinchwad for three terms, had drawn a blank with all its candidates defeated by big margins.
Pawar said there is confusion among party workers regarding ticket allocation. “Party workers are wondering since MVA is in place in the state, how will the ticket distribution take effect in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Since Congress has decided to contest on its own, the issue of taking them along does not arise. As for Shiv Sena, it seems to be keen for an alliance with NCP…Defeating BJP in the civic polls is our main objective,” he said.
Story continues below this ad
Pawar’s sentiment of defeating BJP was also echoed by Sena leaders present in Pimpri-Chinchwad on Thursday.
“BJP had won the 2017 PCMC election in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. After coming to power, they showed their real face. Corruption during the BJP’s regime in PCMC has reached its peak. The Sena is determined to bring down the BJP in Pimpri-Chinchwad,” said Sena district coordinator Sachin Ahir after meeting Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Patil.
A delegation of Sena leaders led by Ahir met the commissioner and sought a thorough investigation into the allegations of corruption made by their party. Shiv Sena Pimpri-Chinchwad president Sachin Bhosale, women’s wing chief Urmila Kalbhor, PCMC house leader Rahul Kalate, former MLA Gautam Chabukswar, former Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Yogesh Babar and corporator Amit Gawde were a part of the delegation.
Ahir said, “People in Thane-Mumbai have full faith in Sena’s capability to change the face of the cities. Shiv Sena will fight the election on the development plank and expose corruption under BJP.”
Story continues below this ad
Cornering the saffron party on the same lines, Pawar said, “Corruption has been the hallmark of the BJP rule in PCMC. The party is more focussed on giving tenders to people it favours. For the first time in the history of PCMC a standing committee chairman was arrested for taking bribes and the chairman is a BJP corporator. The incident has tarnished the image of Pimpri-Chinchwad.”
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
