Direct Fight Between BJP & Sharad Pawar's NCP-SP On Two Assembly Seats In Pune City, Two In Pimpri-Chinchwad

Out of 11 Assembly constituencies in Pune City and Pimpri-Chinchwad, there is a direct fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on four seats — Parvati, Khadakwasla, Bhosari and Chinchwad.

In Parvati, the NCP-SP has fielded Ashwini Kadam, who has represented the area for 15 years in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Kadam will face BJP's three-time MLA Madhuri Misal, who won the 2019 election with a significant margin of over 35,000 votes.

NCP-SP has fielded Sachin Dodke against BJP's three-term MLA Bhimrao Tapkir in Khadakwasla. In the 2019 Assembly polls, Tapkir won by a narrow margin of 3,000 votes.

Ajit Gavhane has been declared the NCP-SP candidate from the Bhosari Assembly seat. He recently left Ajit Pawar's NCP and joined Sharad Pawar's faction along with over 20 former corporators. He will face off against two-term MLA Mahesh Landge. In the 2014 polls, Landge ran as an independent and won, whereas in 2019, he contested on a BJP ticket and secured a massive victory with a margin of over 70,000 votes.

In Chinchwad, the BJP has fielded the party's Pimpri-Chinchwad chief Shankar Jagtap. His sister-in-law Ashwini Jagtap is the incumbent MLA. The NCP-SP has nominated Rahul Kalate.

Meanwhile, there is a direct contest between NCP-SP and Ajit Pawar's NCP on three seats in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad — Hadapsar, Wadgaon Sheri and Pimpri.