Pune, 3rd January 2026: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections have entered a decisive phase after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Friday. As many as 969 candidates withdrew their nominations, significantly narrowing the contest.
The city will now witness a political battle among 1,165 candidates for 165 corporator seats, setting the stage for an intense and closely fought election.
These elections are being held after a gap of nearly nine years, while Pune has been under administrator rule for the last almost four years, which is scheduled to end in January. Following the election announcement, all major political parties went into campaign mode.
However, rapid political developments over the past month led to new alliances, internal dissent, and difficulties in finalising candidates in several wards.
Despite initial rebellions, major parties managed to persuade most rebel candidates to withdraw. Many dissidents publicly reaffirmed their loyalty to party leadership. Even after withdrawals, two BJP candidates have been elected unopposed, ensuring contests on 163 seats across 41 wards.
Candidate distribution varies widely across wards. Ward No. 35 (Sun City–Manikbaug) has the lowest competition, with only seven candidates contesting two seats, as the remaining two seats were decided unopposed. In contrast, Wards No. 2 (Phulenagar–Nagpur Chawl) and Yerawada–Gandhinagar have the highest number of candidates, with 43 contenders each.
Voters will also have to navigate a wide range of party symbols, with candidates from BJP, Shiv Sena (both factions), NCP (both factions), Congress, MNS, AAP, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, BSP, RSP, and several independents in the fray.
According to the election administration, a total of 3,041 nomination forms were submitted. Of these, 847 were declared invalid, 2,194 were found valid, 969 were withdrawn, leaving 1,165 final candidates in the contest.
Meanwhile, attention has also shifted to the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections. Across 32 wards and 128 seats, 692 candidates are contesting. The political picture here is clearer, with over 120 seats witnessing direct contests between the BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party.
Two BJP candidates are set to be elected unopposed, with only a formal announcement pending. Given the limited presence of other parties, these BJP–NCP battles are expected to dominate the Pimpri-Chinchwad election narrative.
With multiple parties, strong local candidates, and high voter stakes, both Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad are set for closely watched civic elections that could reshape the region’s political landscape.
