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Ajit Pawar said that even when different parties were in power at the Centre and the state in the past, local body elections were fought on local issues and against each other.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. (PTI/File)
Days after his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) announced an alliance with Sharad Pawar’s NCP for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, Ajit Pawar addressed the differences between national, state, and local politics.
Local elections are different
“In my 35 years of political life, I have contested many elections, but this time the election is somewhat different and unique,” Ajit Pawar said.
He explained that while the NCP is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre and running the state government with Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde, the situation at the local level in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad is different.
Centre and state level politics
Pawar highlighted the progress under Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level. He said the Centre and the Maharashtra state government are providing ample funds for development works across the state.
“No development scheme is being kept pending by either the Centre or the State,” he added.
Local leadership under scrutiny
Pawar noted that even when different parties were in power at the Centre and the state in the past, local body elections were fought on local issues and often against each other.
He said, “The real question is about the performance of the local leadership. There is no fault of the Central or State governments in this.”
He asked voters to consider why, despite unity at the Centre and state, local areas like Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad face challenges. Pawar emphasised that the municipal corporations’ conditions reflect the performance of local leaders over the years, not the policies of higher-level governments.
“In the state, we are running the government together with Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde. Yet in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the public sees a different picture. Sensible voters may ask: if we are united at the Centre and the state, what has gone wrong locally? Similar situations existed before, when local elections were fought separately on local issues, even under different state and Central governments.”
January 05, 2026, 09:24 IST
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