Pune MLC Polls: Supriya Sule, Rohit Pawar Allege PDCC Bank Staff Used for BJP Campaign

Pune, 22 October 2026: NCP (SP) leaders Supriya Sule and Rohit Pawar have alleged that employees of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank (PDCC) were being used to campaign for BJP candidates in the Pune graduate and teachers’ constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Council ahead of Friday’s polling.

In posts on X, the two leaders raised questions over the alleged use of a cooperative institution and its employees for political campaigning, and called for action against those responsible. Sule also shared a call recording of caller in her post.

Sule alleged that appeals were being made to voters to support BJP candidates from the PDCC Bank’s Bhavaninagar branch in Indapur taluka. Describing the matter as serious and objectionable, she said cooperative institutions were meant to serve the interests of all their members and should not be used for political propaganda.

“If employees of an important cooperative institution in Pune district are being used for political campaigning, it goes against the fundamental principles of cooperation,” Sule said in her post.

She urged the Election Commission and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take serious note of the allegations, order an immediate inquiry and initiate appropriate action against those found responsible. She also stressed that the election process must be conducted in a fair environment, free from pressure.

Rohit Pawar levelled further allegations, claiming that a leader from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction in Pune district had allegedly mobilised bank employees to campaign for BJP candidates.

He alleged that a meeting had been held at the bank two days earlier without taking other stakeholders into confidence, and that a BJP office-bearer from Pune city had been invited to address those present. According to Pawar, bank employees were subsequently directed to work for the BJP candidates contesting the graduate and teachers’ constituencies.

Questioning the alleged involvement of bank staff in the election campaign, Pawar asked what the bank had to do with the Legislative Council polls. He also accused the leader of using the institution to strengthen his political standing with senior BJP leaders.

Pawar appealed to bank employees not to follow what he described as unlawful instructions to campaign for the BJP, saying their responsibility was to provide services to farmers. He also warned that the alleged activity was being closely watched.

The allegations come a day after campaigning for the Pune graduate and teachers’ constituencies ended on Wednesday. Polling is scheduled for Friday, with the results to be counted on October 27.