Pune: The seat-sharing arrangement for four of Pune city's assembly constituencies remains unresolved within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.
The city encompasses eight constituencies: Kasba, Shivajinagar, Pune Cantonment, Parvati, Wadgaon Sheri, Hadapsar, Khadakwasla, and Kothrud.
Although an agreement has been reached for four of these constituencies—Kasba, Shivajinagar, Pune Cantonment, and Kothrud—the allocation of the remaining four remains a point of contention.
Under the current agreement, the Kothrud constituency will remain with the Thackeray faction, while the Congress party will field candidates in the Shivajinagar, Pune Cantonment, and Kasba constituencies.
Recently, a candidate list was released by the Congress, naming Ravindra Dhangekar as their candidate for the Kasba constituency.
Despite back-to-back defeats, the Congress has decided to give Ramesh Bagwe another chance to contest in the Pune Cantonment constituency. Datta Bahirat, who narrowly lost in the previous election, is expected to represent Congress again from the Shivajinagar constituency.
The Congress has also named Sanjay Jagtap and Sangram Thopte as their candidates for the Purandar and Bhor constituencies, respectively.
However, no consensus has been reached for the Hadapsar, Wadgaon Sheri, Parvati, and Khadakwasla constituencies. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) has expressed its desire to claim the Khadakwasla, Hadapsar, Wadgaon Sheri, and Parvati seats.
Simultaneously, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), which has already secured Kothrud, is insisting on acquiring either the Hadapsar or Khadakwasla constituencies. The NCP (SP) has offered the Parvati constituency to the Thackeray faction as a compromise, but the matter remains unresolved.
Meanwhile, the Congress is also keen on the Parvati seat, with senior leader Aba Bagul expressing his interest in contesting. His preparations for the election are reportedly underway.
In the Wadgaon Sheri constituency, Thackeray faction leader Sushma Andhare has shown interest in running, indicating that the faction may retain Wadgaon Sheri if necessary.
While the Thackeray faction has been assured the Kothrud seat, they are pressing for an additional constituency. Despite the NCP (SP)’s offer of Parvati, the Thackeray faction appears dissatisfied, keeping the seat-sharing deadlock intact.
It remains to be seen if the MVA leadership will resolve the issue promptly or if the impasse will continue until the final deadline for candidate nominations.
