Despite the fact that the government had declared merger of 28 fringe villages into Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits, the State Election Commission conducted grampanchayat polls in Phursungi earlier this week.

The verdict: With 58 candidates in the fray for the Phursungi grampanchayat, the amount spent for the exercise came to around Rs 15.7 lakh. A newly-elected member of the grampanchayat said that they have filed a writ petition in Bombay High Court against the possible merger, and will do everything to make sure that they aren’t forced to be part of the PMC. File pic