Pune: Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s ‘NCP’ Prepares for Grand Foundation Day Show of Strength Ahead of Civic Polls
Pune, 3rd June 2025: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is gearing up for a major show of strength in Pune on 10th June, as it plans to celebrate its foundation day with a grand event at the Shri Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi. With the upcoming local bodies elections and the culmination of the party’s silver jubilee year coinciding, the occasion is being utilized to showcase the party’s organizational prowess and reinforce its claim to being the “real” NCP.
Top leaders and workers from across the state are expected to converge on Pune for the event, with prominent party figures already stationed in the city to oversee arrangements. The preparations have set off a flurry of activity in Pune, as the party’s rank and file vie for prominence and positions ahead of the civic polls.
This year’s foundation day event marks a strategic shift to Pune, chosen for its political significance and to highlight the party’s renewed focus on the city. Last year, after the split within the NCP in July 2023, Ajit Pawar’s faction celebrated the occasion at Mumbai’s Shanmukhanand Hall. However, with the municipal elections on the horizon, Pune has taken center stage, and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar is determined to make a strong statement through this event.
Amid ongoing speculation about a possible reunion between the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Ajit Pawar’s group, both senior leaders have repeatedly sidestepped direct answers. All eyes will be on Ajit Pawar to see if he takes a firm stance on this issue during the Pune event.
The foundation day celebrations have also provided an opportunity for the party to restructure its Pune unit. Following the resignation of Deepak Mankar, the party has appointed two city presidents for the first time in Pune. Former MLA Sunil Tingre and former corporator Subhash Jagtap have been named city presidents, with Tingre overseeing the eastern part and Jagtap the western part of the city. The party has also appointed two working presidents for each city president. Pradeep Deshmukh retains his position as a working president, while former corporators Rupali Thombare-Patil, Akrur Kudale, and Haji Firoz Shaikh have been newly appointed as working presidents. The newly appointed office-bearers are currently immersed in preparations for the event.
