Pune, 11 February 2026: In a major development from Pune’s political circles, the Bharatiya Janata Party has taken strong disciplinary action against its own members following the Pune Municipal Corporation elections.
The party has suspended 69 office-bearers and workers for six years for contesting the civic polls against the official party candidates.
The suspended leaders include several former corporators and party functionaries such as Amol Balwadkar, Dhananjay Jadhav, Kiran Bartakke, Sachin Dangte, Mohini Devkar, Ujjwala Gaud, Harish Pardeshi, Pritam Nagapure, Sangeeta Thosar, Sandeep Lonkar and Madhukar Musale, among others. The action has sent shockwaves through the local BJP unit.
The suspensions were carried out on the orders of Ravindra Chavan, the BJP’s Maharashtra state president. In a clear message to party cadres, the BJP stated that there would be “no sympathy for those who violate party discipline” and warned that any leader or worker taking an anti-party stand in the future would face strict action.
“The party will not tolerate indiscipline. Anyone acting against the organisation will be dealt with firmly,” the party said, underlining its zero-tolerance approach.
Despite internal dissent, the BJP emerged dominant in the Pune Municipal Corporation elections, winning 119 corporator seats and securing a full majority. BJP’s Manjusha Nagpure was elected mayor, while Parshuram Wadekar of the Republican Party of India (Aathawale group) was elected deputy mayor, both unopposed.
The mayoral and deputy mayoral elections took place after a gap of nearly four years, with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress opting out of the contest. With a clear majority in hand, the BJP ensured smooth, unopposed elections, consolidating its control over Pune’s civic administration even as it cracked down on internal rebellion.
