Pimpri-Chinchwad: PCMC Reservation Draw Jolts Veteran Politicians, Forces Many To Field Women From Families To Keep Political Relevance

Pimpri-Chinchwad: In the ward-wise reservation draw for the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), prominent former corporators, including the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) former Deputy Mayor, three former Standing Committee Chairmen, and a former Leader of the Opposition, have been jolted. The local leaders' desperate chance at gaining momentum in their political careers has been snatched away as PCMC elections are taking place after eight years.

The ward-wise reservation lottery for the PCMC election was held on Tuesday at the Prof. Ramkrishna More Auditorium in Chinchwad. The lottery process was conducted under the chairmanship of Pune Divisional Commissioner Dr Chandrakant Pulkundwar. Slips for the reservations were prepared on blank A4-size paper. They were rolled up with a single-coloured rubber band, placed in a transparent circular container, rotated, and then the reservation slips were drawn by PCMC school children.

Women's Political Careers Set to Begin

According to sources, many will now have to field women from their own families in the election to keep some political relevance in their family. If they do not field a woman, many of these ‘pudharis' will have to fight each other face-to-face. Some female former corporators will have to fight against male candidates, while some will have to contest from the General category. These changes necessitate a new political alignment for parties in many wards.

The reservation of seats for women has created difficulty for former corporators Vikas Dolas, Sagar Angolkar, Ambernath Kamble, Santosh Kamble, Shailesh More, former Leader of the Opposition Shyam Lande, and Sagar Gawali. They will have to field a woman from their family in the election. However, unlike last time, former Standing Committee Chairpersons Seema Sawale and Mamata Gaikwad and former women corporators Dr Sulakshana Shilwant-Dhar, Ashwini Waghmare, Kamal Gholap, Ashwini Bobade, Geeta Mancharkar, Asha Shendge, Sharada Sonawane, and Madhavi Rajapure will have to fight against male candidates.

Caste-Based Reservation Eliminates Key Leaders

Due to the reservation falling to the Other Backward Class (OBC) Woman category in Ward No. 10 (Shahu Nagar and Sambhaji Nagar), the BJP's former Deputy Mayor, Keshav Gholve, has been affected. The absence of a Scheduled Caste (SC) reservation in Ward No. 1 (Chikhali) and Ward No. 24 (Ganesh Nagar) has eliminated former corporator Kundan Gaikwad (BJP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) former corporator Sachin Bhosale from contention.

With the BJP needing all their former corporators to be elected, as they have a tough challenge from the NCP for PCMC's throne, the problems for the party are increasing. Also, Uddhav Sena is struggling to expand in the city, and Bhosale being eliminated from contention in his own ward is also worrying for the party.

NCP-SP Unlucky in the Draw?

In the Indrayani Nagar ward, since there is only one general seat, former Standing Committee Chairman Vilas Madigeri (BJP) will have to contest against several prominent figures. The reservation has also posed problems for NCP's Sangita Tamhane (OBC category) due to the general reservation and for Abhishek Barne and former Leader of the Opposition Rahul Bhosale due to the women's reservation.

But problems of the Nationalist Congress Party - Sharadchandra Pawar are more than ever, as due to the OBC Women's reservation, NCP-SP Pimpri-Chinchwad City President Tushar Kamthe will have to fight from the General category against BJP's Uttam Kendale. If the two brothers, Rahul Kalate (NCP-SP) and Mayur Kalate (NCP), do not wish to fight against each other, a woman from one of their families will have to contest the election.