Pimpri-Chinchwad: Ex-NCP-SP Assembly Candidate Rahul Kalate Joins BJP; Party Eyes 125 Of 128 Seats In PCMC

Pimpri-Chinchwad: Maintaining its desperate resolve to elect more than a hundred corporators in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections out of a total of 128 corporators, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has continued its spree of inductions and overriding the opposition of local workers. Former corporator Rahul Kalate, who contested the Chinchwad Assembly election from the Nationalist Congress Party - Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP), joined the BJP on Tuesday.

Kalate, a former group leader of the Shiv Sena who contested the Chinchwad Assembly polls in 2024 for the NCP-SP faction, is considered a traditional political rival of the Jagtap family -- who were previously with the NCP and are now with the BJP. Since 2014, Kalate has contested the Assembly elections against members of the Jagtap family four times. He ran twice against the late MLA Laxman Jagtap, once on a Shiv Sena ticket and once as an Independent.

Following Laxman Jagtap’s demise, he ran as an Independent against Ashwini Jagtap in the 2023 by-election, and in 2024, he contested against Shankar Jagtap on an NCP-SP ticket. He was unsuccessful on all four occasions.

Aspiring candidates within the BJP had opposed Kalate’s induction. However, overriding that opposition, Kalate’s entry into the party took place. Kalate is likely to contest the PCMC election from Ward No. 25 - Punawale, Tathawade, Bhumkar Wasti, Wakad. Meanwhile, Ambernath Kamble, a former BJP corporator currently with Sharad Pawar’s NCP, has joined Ajit Pawar’s NCP.

Speaking about the inclusion of Kalate, Chinchwad MLA and PCMC BJP Election Chief Shankar Jagtap said, “BJP’s strength has increased with Kalate’s entry. Now, not just a hundred, but 125 corporators will be elected.”