Talks between the and the ruling have failed to reach any agreement ahead of the upcoming Pune civic elections, effectively closing the door on a possible alliance. Senior leaders from the Sharad Pawar-led faction confirmed that discussions stalled after Ajit Pawar’s camp refused to accept the proposal of both parties contesting the polls on their respective election symbols. With municipal elections scheduled for January 15 across Maharashtra, including in , the breakdown comes at a critical moment, just days before the nomination deadline on December 30.
Senior NCP (SP) leader Ankush Kakade said party leaders from Pune had met , but no common ground could be found. He stated that the Sharad Pawar-led faction made it clear it would contest on its own symbol, while allowing the Ajit Pawar-led NCP to do the same if an alliance were to materialise. However, the proposal was not acceptable to the ruling faction. Kakade also underlined that NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule favours continuing with the Maha Vikas Aghadi, alongside and , rather than entering a tactical arrangement that could dilute the party’s political positioning.
The uncertainty has already had political fallout at the local level. NCP (SP) Pune city unit president Prashant Jagtap resigned from the party amid the stalled alliance talks and formally joined the Congress. According to Congress leaders, Jagtap rejected any alignment with what he described as “communal forces” and chose to switch parties without compromising on ideological grounds. With alliance negotiations collapsing and key leaders switching sides, the Pune civic polls are now shaping up to be a fragmented contest, reflecting the deepening divide between the two NCP factions and the broader realignment underway in Maharashtra politics.
