Civic polls: Opportunism, a hallmark of politics in Pune

Politics makes strange bedfellows, going by the situation of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls.

In the absence of a pre-poll alliance, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are fighting each other bitterly. Same was the situation after the 2007 civic polls. However, two years later, the two came together to share power in the PMC.

Pune has seen opportunism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena. The NCP, BJP and Sena joined hands to dethrone the Congress. The alliance of convenience that began on March 17, 2007 was named Pune Pattern and replicated in several civic bodies across the state.

Both the BJP and NCP went against their allies during the election for the post of PMC standing committee chairman last year.

Ganesh Bidkar of BJP and Shankar Pawar of Congress contested the election. With the NCP and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) supporting him, Bidkar defeated Pawar.

Political observers feel this situation arose because of the party-wise tally in the PMC after the 2007 polls: The NCP emerged as the single largest party with 42 corporators, but that was inadequate in the house of 144 corporators. The Congress had 35 seats, BJP 25, Shiv Sena 20, MNS eight and 14 corporators had contested as independents.

Senior journalist and political analyst, Vinay Hardikar describes this phenomena as “shameless power politics.”

“This situation will change only when voters exercise their franchise cautiously. In most elections, votes are cast on the basis of individual candidates and not on basis of party ideology or manifesto. That is why values in politics are on the decline,” he said.

Political thinker MP Mangudkar said value-oriented politics had become non-existent for several decades now because of which parties dared to do such politics of convenience.