NCP supports BJP’s man in Pune; Congress fumes

In a dramatic turn of events, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) severed its year-long alliance with the Congress to ensure the victory of BJP’s Ganesh Bidkar to the coveted post of chairman, standing committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Saturday.

Bidkar won with nine votes (NCP 5+BJP 3+MNS 1) against the five votes of the Congress party.

The first signs of trouble surfaced after both the NCP and the Congress fielded their own candidates for the post. Hectic parleys between the two parties till late on Friday night failed to resolve the issue.

The corporators in the race for the post of chairman included Ganesh Bidkar (BJP), Shankar Pawar (Congress) and Shrikant Patil (NCP). The Congress and NCP had five members each, the BJP had three members and the MNS had a lone member in the PMC standing committee.

The elections of the chairman took place at the General Body Hall, with additional collector RD Gaikwad acting as the returning officer. The presence of NCP city president, Vandana Chavan, and NCP MLA, Bapusaheb Pathare, indicated the importance the party has attached to these elections.

Just minutes before the actual elections, hectic talks took place between leaders of the NCP and the Congress in the hall.     

Leader of the opposition in the house and Congressman, Aba Bagul, and Congress city president, Abhay Chhajed, were seen in deep discussions with NCP city chief, Vandana Chavan, and other NCP leaders.

The real drama began unfolding soon after the time for withdrawal of nomination was over. Rajesh Barattake, the lone MNS member voted for Bidkar, followed by Ganesh Tupe and four other NCP corporators. This drew applause from Bidkar’s supporters in the gallery.

Congress leaders Arvind Shinde (outgoing chairman) and Aba Bagul accused the NCP of breach of contract. They said the Congress would go alone in the 2012 PMC elections. Bagul claimed that the last year’s alliance between the NCP-Congress had spoken of rotation of the posts of chairman and mayor every two years.

Similarly, the NCP city leaders were also in a belligerent mood. NCP leader of the house, Nilesh Nikam, said the pact drawn up by NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Congress leader and MP Suresh Kalmadi had spoken of a yearly rotation of the chairman’s post. Nikam said, “We voted for the BJP as an answer to the pressure tactics by the Congress.”