India, Jan. 8 -- Selection of candidates, last-minute defections, and churn within political parties have intensified political activity in key Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) wards with Shivajinagar-Ghole Road and Aundh-Baner emerging as closely watched battlegrounds ahead of the civic polls. In both these wards, the contest is being shaped as much by realignments within political parties as by inter-party competition, with denial of tickets, replacement of sitting corporators, and entry of new faces altering local equations.

Shivajinagar-Ghole Road

The Shivajinagar-Ghole Road belt - comprising wards such as Gokhalenagar-Wakadewadi (ward 7) and Chhatrapati Shivajinagar-Model Colony (ward 12) - remains one of the city's politically sen...