Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule share stage to release joint manifesto for Pune

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar and NCP SP working president Supriya Sule on Saturday shared the political stage for the first time after the split in June 2023 and released a joint manifesto for an inclusive and developed Pune reported news agency IANSlsquoTruce for Punersquo reshapes local political equationsIn a development that has reshaped the political landscape of Maharashtra the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party NCP officially signalled a ldquotruce for Punerdquo on Saturday reported IANSAjit Pawar noted that the ldquofriction within the family has been resolvedrdquo for the sake of the cityrsquos development while Supriya Sule emphasised that the alliance is currently limited to these civic pollsAlliance limited to PMC and PCMC electionsThe alliance formed specifically to contest the Pune Municipal Corporation PMC and PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporation PCMC elections aims to consolidate the Pawar familyrsquos traditional strongholdLeaders from both sides stated that the primary goal is to prevent a division of votes that would benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party which currently eyes a second consecutive term in the civic bodyInfrastructure water and mobility dominate manifestoThe manifesto focusses on several urbancentric promises on infrastructure water management and urban mobility They have made a commitment to accelerate the Pune Metro expansion and resolve the cityrsquos chronic traffic congestion through new flyovers and improved public transport reported IANSA commitment to accelerating the next phases of the Pune Metro and expanding the PMPML bus fleet with 100 per cent electric vehicles to reduce traffic congestion has also been made247 water supply river rejuvenation promisedThe alliance has ensured 247 water supply to the merged villages and modernising the drainage systems and the construction of new sewage treatment plants STPs to rejuvenate the MulaMutha river It promises to eliminate ldquopothole culturerdquo by moving towards highquality cementconcrete roads and developing dedicated ldquomissing linksrdquo in the cityrsquos ring road reported IANSlsquoGreen Punersquo and skill development initiatives outlinedThe manifesto lays focus on lsquoGreen Punersquo initiatives including the preservation of the cityrsquos hills and river rejuvenation projects Both the parties have promised the establishment of dedicated skill development centres for the cityrsquos massive student population including lsquoPune Skill Hubsrsquo to provide vocational training for local youth reported IANSWomencentric welfare and digital governance plansThe alliance has promised enhanced financial assistance for womenled selfhelp groups SHGs mirroring the lsquoLadki Bahinrsquo style of support at the civic level digitising all municipal services to ensure lsquoZeroTouchrsquo governance for building permissions property tax payments and grievance redressalLocal unity sends message to party cadresThe sight of the cousins sharing a platform has sent a strong message to party cadres While the two factions remain separate at the state and national levels this local tieup suggests a pragmatic shiftlsquoUnited for Pune divided elsewherersquo says party leaderldquoThis is a decision taken in the interest of Punersquos development We may have different paths at other levels but for our home ground we are unitedrdquo a senior party leader remarked during the launch reported IANSInternal dissent surfaces despite toplevel consensusDespite the show of unity the alliance has faced internal friction Initially some local leaders including former NCP SP city unit chief Prashant Jagtap expressed dissent over the tieup though the top leadership appears to have moved forward to secure the ldquoPawar bastionrdquoWith inputs from IANS