Pune Politics Heats Up: Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS Join Hands Ahead of PMC Elections
Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 29th December 2025: Pune’s political landscape has witnessed a major churn after the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) snapped ties with the Congress, triggering swift realignments ahead of the Pune Municipal Corporation elections.
In a decisive move, the Congress has finalised a new alliance with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), sealing a seat-sharing arrangement during a crucial meeting held on Sunday.
With this development, the upcoming civic polls in Pune are set to become a direct three-cornered contest involving the BJP, the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and the newly-formed Congress–Shiv Sena (UBT)–MNS alliance.
According to sources familiar with the discussions, the Congress will contest 80 seats, while Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS will contest 65 seats each. Additionally, 15 to 20 seats have been kept reserved for allied parties. If these allies decide not to participate, the seats will be redistributed between the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT).
Sources said around 70 percent of the demands put forth by the MNS during the negotiations were accepted, leading to broad satisfaction within the party. Most issues related to seat-sharing have been resolved, and the remaining formalities are expected to be completed later on Saturday.
Congress in-charge MLA Satej Patil and Shiv Sena leader Sachin Ahir are expected to give the final approval to the alliance. With the deadline for filing nomination papers approaching, the parties have accelerated decision-making and begun preparations to enter the electoral battlefield.
Following the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction)’s exit from the Congress alliance, the Congress moved quickly to fill the resulting political vacuum by bringing Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS together under a common banner. This has significantly altered political equations in Pune, presenting the BJP and the NCP with a united and aggressive opposition front.
With the bugle for a triangular contest now sounded, all eyes are on Pune as the high-stakes municipal election promises to be fiercely contested.
