Pune: PMC And PCMC Elections See Rise in Husband-Wife Candidates Across Parties
Pune, 7th January 2026: Civic elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad are seeing an increasing number of husband-wife pairs contesting together, turning several wards into family-centered political battles. Across parties, at least six couples are in the fray, often working jointly to bolster each other’s chances of winning.
The couples, representing the same political party but under different reservation categories, campaign together, share responsibilities, and coordinate their outreach. Four of these pairs are contesting from the same wards, while the remaining two are running from adjacent wards. Among them, two couples belong to the NCP, two to the BJP, and one each to the Congress and MNS.
Political analysts say this trend is partly driven by the difficulty in finding women candidates with a strong local base, prompting parties to field the spouses of established local leaders. In many wards, senior male leaders contest while their wives are nominated from women-reserved seats, helping the party maintain influence in those areas.
Among the couples, Nana alias Vitthal Kate and his wife Sheetal of the NCP are contesting together for the second consecutive term from Ward 28 in Pimpri Chinchwad, having first won in 2017. The rest are making their electoral debut as couples.
Surendra Bappusaheb Pathare is contesting from Ward 4 (Kharadi-Wagholi) on the BJP ticket, while his wife Aishwarya is contesting from Ward 3 (Viman Nagar-Lohgaon).
Avinash Bagve and his wife Indira are contesting the elections on a Congress ticket from Ward 22. While Avinash is a former corporator, Indira is stepping into electoral politics for the first time.
Similarly, NCP’s Moreshwar Bhondave and his wife Jayashree are contesting from Ward 16 in Pimpri Chinchwad. Moreshwar, a former corporator, said campaigning alongside his wife allows them to reach a wider voter base.
