Overview
- Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Sharad Pawar’s NCP(SP) will face off in Baramati on December 2, with NCP(SP) contesting under the MVA banner and Ajit Pawar’s faction running on its own.
- The BJP has entered the Baramati fray with nearly 30 candidates, an unusually large slate that raises the intensity of the contest.
- Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad led a delegation to Sharad Pawar proposing a BMC alliance, with party sources saying 15–20 seats were offered to NCP(SP), and Pawar set a joint meeting for next week.
- NCP(SP) strategist Yugendra Pawar confirmed he will not run in the Baramati civic polls, as both Pawar camps keep prominent family members off the candidate lists.
- Signs of strain surfaced inside the ruling Mahayuti after Sena ministers skipped a cabinet meeting, even as separate moves in Mumbai saw the Samajwadi Party declare it will contest the BMC independently in about 150 wards.