The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday released its first list of 38 candidates for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly polls. However, the party did not announce its candidate for the Wadgaon Sheri Assembly seat in Pune. The seat is currently held by NCP MLA Sunil Tingre.
Earlier on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of 99 candidates. However, they also did not include the Wadgaon Sheri seat. The saffron party's former MLA Jagdish Mulik has repeatedly expressed his aspirations to contest the elections, and this has led to a tussle between the two Mahayuti partners.
BJP workers and supporters of Mulik have openly refused to campaign for Tingre. In a letter written to Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) member Pankaja Munde, Arjun Jagtap, president of BJP's Wadgaon Sheri Assembly segment, wrote, "All local BJP leaders and workers wish that someone from our party gets to contest from Wadgaon Sheri. Former MLA Jagdish Mulik has played an important role in expanding BJP and its ideology in Wadgaon Sheri. From one corporator before 2014, Mulik got 14 corporators elected during his tenure."
Jagtap further accused Tingre of working against Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol, who was Mahayuti's candidate for the Pune Lok Sabha seat. "It was only because of the BJP that Mohol got a lead of 15,600 votes from Wadgaon Sheri. If Tingre had followed the alliance principle, Mohol would have got a bigger lead," he said, adding, "Hence, if the Wadgaon Sheri Assembly seat goes to the NCP in seat-sharing, then the BJP workers will not campaign for the candidate in any form."
Mulik has also publicly targeted Tingre on multiple occasions. Ahead of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's visit to Wadgaon Sheri to lay the foundation stones for development works worth ₹300 crore, Tingre put up posters featuring only his party chief's pictures; photos of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis were notably absent. Subsequently, Mulik slammed Tingre, expressing his displeasure and questioning whether only the BJP and Shiv Sena are expected to adhere to the alliance's principles.
Meanwhile, there is a strong buzz in political circles that Wadgaon Sheri could witness a "friendly fight" with both NCP's Tingre and BJP's Mulik in the fray. On the other hand, NCP (SP) is likely to field former Wadgaon Sheri MLA Bapusaheb Pathare's son Surendra, making it a triangular contest.