NCP launches 'Alarm' campaign for Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body polls; Ajit targets BJP over civic failures

Pune, Jan 7 (PTI) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), whose poll symbol is a clock, on Wednesday launched a new campaign titled "Alarm" for the January 15 polls to the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic bodies and targeted the local leadership of its ally BJP, accusing the saffron party of failing to deliver basic services in both cities.

Announcing the campaign here, NCP president and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said worsening civic issues such as water shortage, garbage pile-ups, traffic congestion and rising pollution levels were "alarm bells" signalling administrative failure at the municipal level.

The NCP asserted the two key civic bodies need the "Ajit Pawar model" of discipline and delivery.

At the outset, Pawar clarified that this campaign was restricted to Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations and was not connected with the central and state governments.

The NCP is in an alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra and at the Centre. However, both parties are fighting Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body polls separately.

"I would like to clarify at the beginning that 'Alarm' campaign was only concerning failures of municipal bodies in Pune d PCMC (where the BJP was in power from 2017 to 2022)," he said.

Pawar claimed the campaign was based on ground surveys conducted over the last six months and complaints received directly through "Jansamvad" (interaction with citizens).

"Dry taps, tanker queues, pothole-ridden roads, garbage mounds and worsening air quality show an execution crisis in the civic bodies. The alarm is ringing, and the cities need to wake up," asserted the NCP leader, whose home turf is Pune district.

Without naming the BJP, Pawar blamed the ruling party's local leadership for the "deterioration" of civic infrastructure in PMC and PCMC despite governing them for several years.

Development had stalled in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad due to poor planning and lack of accountability, he alleged.

The 'Alarm' campaign will be a digital-first and ground-based initiative, featuring short videos of NCP candidates highlighting civic problems at actual locations such as potholes, garbage dumps and traffic bottlenecks.

The campaign revolves around the theme 'One Alarm, Five Works', focusing on 24x7 clean water supply, pothole-free roads and smoother traffic, timely garbage collection and sanitation, creation of public spaces with pollution control, and accessible healthcare facilities in every ward.

Pawar said the NCP's governance model, rooted in the Shiv-Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar ideology, prioritised execution over rhetoric.

"When (the undivided) NCP helmed the two civic bodies, development was planned and delivered. Efficient governance is the highest form of public service," noted the Deputy Chief Minister, who holds finance and planning portfolios in the BJP-led Mahayuti government in the state.

The NCP sought to draw a distinction between its role in the state government and the functioning of the two key civic bodies, asserting the PMC and PCMC required what it described as the "Ajit Pawar model" of discipline and delivery.

Pawar, while addressing a press conference in Pimpri-Chinchwad last week, alleged corruption in the PCMC and targeted the local BJP leadership for graft, claiming the once-rich civic body has been pushed into debt over the last nine years.

Later, speaking in Pune, Pawar accused the BJP's local leadership of derailing the city's development.

Despite receiving huge funds from the Centre and the state government, the local BJP leadership could not carry out meaningful development in Pune city while ruling its civic body, he had opined. PTI SPK RSY