Pune, 17 January 2026: With its recent electoral success in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to contest the upcoming Pune Zilla Parishad elections independently.
The decision was taken at an important meeting of BJP office-bearers held on Friday, attended by Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol and Maharashtra’s Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil. The meeting was held while the counting of votes for the Pune and PCMC civic elections was underway.
During the discussions, party leaders reviewed election strategy and candidate selection for the Pune Zilla Parishad polls, scheduled for February 5, with nominations beginning on January 16. A clear consensus emerged that the BJP should fight the rural body elections on its own strength.
Addressing party workers, Mohol said that the BJP had already contested the municipal elections independently despite being part of the ruling alliance with the NCP at the state and national levels, and the results had clearly favoured the party. He said this success proved there was no need for an alliance in the Zilla Parishad elections.
Patil supported this view, stating that party office-bearers were unanimous about going solo and that holding talks with the NCP was unnecessary for these polls.
While Ajit Pawar is considered to have influence in rural areas through the Nationalist Congress Party, BJP leaders said the party now aims to expand its base beyond urban centres.
The recent civic poll results prompted the BJP to rethink its earlier plan of an alliance, leading to the final decision to contest the Pune Zilla Parishad elections independently.
