Pune: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Ajit Pawar on Saturday accused the BJP's local leadership for "lack of development" in Pune and asked people in the state's second largest city to give his party a chance in the January 15 civic polls.
Addressing a press conference here, Pawar said problems have increased despite the Pune Municipal Corporation having adequate resources.
"Pune Municipal Corporation is one of the largest municipal corporations in the state. However, citizens have not received adequate civic amenities. Traffic problems still persist today. We (NCP) will continue to make every effort to ensure development across the municipal area," said Pawar, who is also guardian minister of the district.
"As per the TomTom traffic survey, Pune has been ranked among the worst cities in the world for traffic congestion, standing at fourth position globally. In Pune, it takes about 33 minutes to cover a distance of just 10 km. Traffic congestion is seen at several places across the city. In some areas, bridges and flyovers even had to be demolished," he pointed out.
Due to traffic congestion, citizens' time is wasted, and a dedicated authority was established to address this issue, but when he reviewed it as guardian minister he realised many planned measures were not implemented, Pawar claimed.
In an attack on the BJP, he said, "Due to the lack of governance in PMC, the development of the city derailed. The PMC has failed to provide basic facilities and amenities to its citizens."
The BJP ruled the PMC from 2017 to 2022 before the civic body was placed under a government-appointed administrator.
Pawar also defended his decision to give tickets to the kin of arrested gangster Bandu Andekar.
The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has given tickets to Sonali Andekar, daughter-in-law of gang leader Suryakant alias Bandu Andekar, and his sister-in-law Laxmi Andekar through its ally RPI (Sachin Kharat faction ). All three are accused in the murder of Bandu Andekar's grandson Ayush Komkar and are currently in jail.
The NCP is in alliance with RPI (Sachin Kharat) for Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic polls to be held on January 15.
Asked about tickets to persons with crime links, Pawar said, "Just because someone is a criminal, what is the fault of his wife and what is the fault of the family? It is the right of other parties to decide whom they give candidature to. I did not give tickets to criminals."
On Saturday, addressing a press conference here, Pawar had alleged irregularities in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.
"This municipal corporation was once known as the richest in Asia. It even received awards as the best city of India when NCP was in power. However, over the past few years, (civic) deposits worth nearly Rs 8,000 crore have been depleted," he had said.
From 2017 to 2022, BJP was in power in PCMC. Since 2022, it is under a government-appointed administrator.
Pawar's statements have triggered a sharp response from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan on Saturday said if his party starts making allegations, it would create serious difficulties for him (Pawar).
Chavan advised the NCP chief to "introspect" before levelling allegations.
The NCP and BJP are part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance but are contesting the Pune civic polls separately.
Polls to 29 municipal corporations, including Pune, will take place on January 15, while votes will be counted the next day.
A total of 1,166 candidates are in the fray across 41 wards, which comprise 165 seats, in Pune.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)
