Maharashtra Assembly Polls: Ajit Pawar Ready To Offer BJP Another Seat In Return For Chinchwad Constituency

Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar has reportedly told his party functionaries that he is ready to offer the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) any other seat in the state in return for the Chinchwad Assembly constituency. Pawar stated that he had already given this proposal to Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and added that if this issue is not resolved at the state level, he would head to Delhi to speak to Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the Chinchwad seat.

Prashant Shitole, a former corporator of the NCP from the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), told TOI, “Ajit Dada told us that there are still some constituencies for which the decision on who should contest the Assembly elections has yet to be made by Mahayuti partners, and Chinchwad is one of them."

"He informed us that he had already offered to give any other Assembly seat in Maharashtra from the NCP’s quota to the BJP in return for Chinchwad. He further mentioned that if things are not resolved here, he might speak to Amit Shah in Delhi to take the demand forward," Shitole added.

This comes two weeks after former NCP corporators held a press conference and announced that they might consider leaving the party if the NCP does not get the Chinchwad seat in the Mahayuti's seat-sharing agreement.

BJP's Ashwini Jagtap is the incumbent Chinchwad MLA. Her late husband, Laxman Jagtap, held the seat since 2009. Following his passing in 2023, a bypoll was held, and the BJP nominated her as the candidate. This time, however, Ashwini's brother-in-law, Shankar Jagtap, who is the BJP's Pimpri-Chinchwad chief, might be chosen for the ticket instead of her. As for the NCP, Nana Kate is keen on contesting and has also hinted at switching to NCP (SP) if he does not get a ticket.