NCP-SP Pune City Chief Prashant Jagtap took to Instagram and announced that he would be contesting the upcoming Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections from Ward No. 18 (Wanowrie-Salunkhe Vihar). He also said that his mother and former corporator Ratnaprabha Jagtap will also be contesting from the same ward.
This comes after the draw for the reservation of seats for the PMC elections was held on Tuesday at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch. As per the draw, 83 of the 165 seats have been reserved for women. Among the 83 seats, 48 fall under the open category, 23 are reserved for OBC, 11 for Scheduled Caste (SC), and one for Scheduled Tribe (ST). Among men, 48 seats are open, 22 OBC, 11 SC, and one ST.
In Ward No. 18, the four seats are reserved for OBC General, General (Women), General (Women), and General.
"Reaffirming our oath of public service… Serving the people of Wanowrie–Salunkhe Vihar, Ward No. 18. We seek your continued blessings and encouragement," Jagtap captioned his post.
No alliance with Ajit Pawar's party
Dismissing the speculations of an alliance between NCP and NCP-SP for the municipal polls, Jagtap said, “The NCP (SP) will contest the PMC elections in pre-poll alliance with MVA and will not ally with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP or any partner of the Mahayuti alliance."
He added that the party has begun the internal process of shortlisting candidates. “Interested aspirants have been asked to collect forms from the city office and submit them at the earliest,” Jagtap said.
