Pimpri: The issue of seat-sharing for the upcoming 2024 Assembly elections remains unresolved within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), yet the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) has already begun conducting interviews for potential candidates.
Even though it is still unclear whether the NCP SP will secure all the seats it has conducted interviews for, the party pressed ahead, leaving many candidates anxious and sparking widespread discussions in political circles.
The interviews, led by Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, Rohit Pawar, Pune district president Jagannath Shewale, and district women’s president Bharti Shewale, come at a time when there is a surge in interest among aspirants eager to join the NCP SP, particularly after its success in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
Despite speculation that some constituencies might be allocated to the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction, interviews were still held, adding fuel to the ongoing political debate.
A total of ten candidates were interviewed for four constituencies—nine candidates from three constituencies in Pimpri-Chinchwad and one from Maval.
Six of these candidates came from the reserved Pimpri constituency, where the interviews included former municipal councilor Sulakshana Shilwant-Dhar, whose ticket was denied at the last minute in the previous election, and city working president Devendra Tayade.
Additionally, Ajit Gawhane, who recently joined the NCP SP, and another candidate were interviewed for the Bhosari constituency, while Tushar Kamthe, the city president, was interviewed for Chinchwad. Taluka president Datta Padval was the sole interviewee for the Maval constituency.
In Pimpri-Chinchwad, the three sitting MLAs are part of the Mahayuti alliance (two from BJP and one from NCP), and the seat-sharing arrangement between them is reportedly near finalization, with candidates almost decided.
However, the MVA is still grappling with the decision on which party will contest which seat. It is speculated that the NCP SP might contest two seats, leaving one for Shiv Sena (UBT). Yet, the question of which constituencies to contest remains contentious.
Apart from Pimpri, NCP SP has not secured MLAs in the other two constituencies, making it unlikely they will concede the Pimpri seat. NCP SP is also facing the dilemma of whether to contest both Bhosari and Chinchwad, where it has previously failed to win.
