Pimpri Chinchwad: After over two years of delay, the Supreme Court has directed that elections for the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) be conducted within four months, bringing clarity and urgency to a long-pending civic matter. The civic body’s term ended in March 2022, with elections initially anticipated in February 2022, but polling was never held.
Following the SC’s ruling, both political parties and administrative machinery have begun preparations for the civic polls. Due to the absence of the 2021 population census, the municipal body will retain its current strength of 128 corporators across 32 wards. However, the number of polling stations is expected to rise in response to an increase in registered voters.
Originally, the State Election Commission had instructed civic officials to restructure the wards into single-member units. Based on that, a new ward formation was prepared. However, the latest updates confirm that the election will be held under the existing four-member ward structure.
Voter statistics for the upcoming polls will be based on the 2011 census, and the election authority is expected to soon announce the final ward maps, reservation categories, and lottery schedules for seat allocation.
The PCMC, established in 1982, was initially governed by an administrator for five years. The first election was held in 1986, followed by polls in 1992, 1997, and 2007, all under the single-member ward format. The 2002 elections adopted a three-member system, the 2012 polls shifted to two-member wards, and since 2017, the four-member ward system has been in place. The upcoming elections will continue under this format.
While the election format remains the same, the number of corporators will not increase and will remain fixed at 128, as no updated census is available. However, voter enrollment has grown since 2011, which will lead to an expansion in the number of polling booths.
In the 2017 municipal elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the dominant force, winning 78 seats. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) secured 35 seats, Shiv Sena managed nine, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) got one, and independent candidates claimed five seats. A total of 774 candidates contested in the previous election.
The BJP’s stronghold was evident again during the 2019 Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections, where most elected MPs and MLAs from the region belonged to the Mahayuti alliance, with the lone exception being Shirur MP Dr. Amol Kolhe from the opposition camp.
