Voting for the 165 seats of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was held on January 15th. The results of the Pune Municipal Corporation elections were declared on January 16th. The main contest in Pune was between the BJP and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar's factions of the NCP had decided to ally for this election. Both factions of the NCP had also jointly released a manifesto for this election, which included a promise of free metro and bus travel. However, the results clearly show that Pune residents did not trust the NCP despite this promise.
BJP secures a clear majority
Following the Pune Municipal Corporation election results, the BJP has emerged as the largest party. Winning 119 out of 165 seats, the BJP achieved a landslide victory. The two factions of the NCP together had to be content with only 30 seats in Pune. The Congress managed to win 15 seats, while Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena secured 1 seat. Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena drew a blank.
How many seats did each party win in Pune?
BJP - 119
Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) - 27
Congress - 15
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) - 3
Shiv Sena (UBT) - 01
Who will be the next Mayor of Pune?
With a clear majority in Pune, it is evident that the next mayor will be from the BJP, but there is great curiosity about who it will be. The reservation draw for the mayoral posts in 29 municipal corporations will be held soon. After the reservation is announced, the mayoral candidate will be decided accordingly.
Against this backdrop, ten potential names are being widely discussed for the mayoral position. These include City President Dhiraj Ghate, Ganesh Bidkar, Srinath Bhimale, Mansi Deshpande, Rajendra Shilimkar, Varsha Tapkir, Manjusha Nagpure, Ranjana Tilekar, Dr Nivedita Ekbote, and Shrikant Jagtap. Various factors, such as experience, party support, a Brahmin candidate, and a fresh face, will shape the mayoral election.
