Pimpri-Chinchwad: If it was not clear before that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is losing control in Pimpri-Chinchwad -- his traditional bastion -- it is now evident that he is. Of a total of five legislators from the city, only one belongs to the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Pimpri MLA Anna Bansode from NCP is up against Bhosari MLA Mahesh Landge, Chinchwad MLA Shankar Jagtap, and MLCs Amit Gorkhe and Uma Khapare, all from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Ajit Pawar began his political career in 1991 when he was elected as an MP from the Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency, which included the Pimpri-Chinchwad city then. After his uncle, former Union Minister Sharad Pawar, formed NCP in 1999, Ajit Pawar became the man often credited for Pimpri-Chinchwad’s development. Pawar held a sole run on the civic body from 2002 to 2017.
Once upon a time, Ajit Pawar had almost all the local leaders on his side, including MLAs and MPs across constituencies that covered Pimpri-Chinchwad. However, in the late 2000s, the political landscape began to change. Three new assembly constituencies of Pimpri, Chinchwad, and Bhosari were carved out in the city in 2008.
Ajit Pawar started strongly, securing two out of the three seats in the 2009 state assembly elections. His influence at the time was undeniable. Anna Bansode of the NCP was elected from Pimpri, while independent candidate Vilas Lande won from Bhosari and later extended his support to Ajit Pawar. In contrast, Chinchwad saw the late MLA Laxman Jagtap rebel against Ajit Pawar and emerge victorious.
Before 2008, Pimpri-Chinchwad fell under the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, which had consistently remained with the NCP. However, post-2008, Ajit Pawar gradually began losing his grip over the city. In 2009, Shiv Sena’s Gajanan Babar won the Maval Lok Sabha seat and became an MP.
The decline became more evident in 2014, when Ajit Pawar’s influence in Pimpri-Chinchwad hit a low point, with neither an MLA nor an MP from his party in the city. Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Barne won the Maval seat to become MP, while in the assembly elections, BJP’s Laxman Jagtap emerged victorious in Chinchwad, Shiv Sena’s Gautam Chabukswar won Pimpri, and Independent candidate Mahesh Landge secured the Bhosari seat.
With the BJP handing over organisational responsibility to Jagtap and Landge, Ajit Pawar eventually lost control of the PCMC in 2017. In 2019, Ajit Pawar got one MLA back into the city from his party, and even after the 2024 assembly elections, this remains a major concern, as only Anna Bansode has been a legislator belonging to Pawar’s party in Pimpri-Chinchwad since 2019.
Anna Bansode & His Potential Impact
Across the 32 wards within PCMC, a total of 128 seats are present, which means a party needs to have at least 65 seats in its favour to have a majority in the civic body. In Pimpri Assembly Constituency, a total of eight wards are there, and in them, 32 seats are at play. Ajit Pawar’s NCP will be tremendously favoured if Bansode manages to use his turf as an advantage and get the party an advantage in these 32 seats.
In the 2017 elections, a major reason for the NCP’s loss was that they lost the battle in Pimpri. Out of the total 32 seats in Pimpri Assembly Constituency, NCP managed to win 17, while BJP got 12. BJP winning 12 was a huge thing, as they didn't have an MLA in Pimpri. Mahesh Landge-led Bhosari area and Laxman Jagtap-led Chinchwad area got the BJP a comfortable majority with 77 total seats. Outside Pimpri, Ajit Pawar’s NCP only managed to win 19 seats, as they won a total of 36 seats.
This time, with Anna Bansode being an MLA and Ajit Pawar backing him previously by making him the deputy speaker of the legislative assembly, Anna’s impact in Pimpri cannot be denied. However, he must compete against grassroots networks of MLCs Amit Gorkhe and Uma Khapare in this area. However, former mayor and Pimpri-Chinchwad City President of NCP, Yogesh Behl’s support will also be a key factor in this battle.
On Wednesday, the NCP also announced former MLA Vilas Lande as the party’s campaign chief for the upcoming PCMC elections. Ajit Pawar is aiming to gain an edge in the Bhosari Assembly constituency, and political observers say Lande is seen as a strong counter to BJP MLA Mahesh Landge’s influence.
Meanwhile, in the Chinchwad Assembly constituency, former Leader of the Opposition Nana Kate has been entrusted with the task of neutralising the impact of BJP MLA Shankar Jagtap.
Although Ajit Pawar has mounted a credible challenge, political experts in the city note that outmanoeuvring four sitting legislators with the backing of just one will be a tough task for the NCP.
