PUNE, Jan. 8 -- Deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar Wednesday launched the party's 'Alarm' campaign for the upcoming Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections, stepping up the attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) local leadership over what the NCP described as mismanagement and failure to deliver basic civic services in the twin city. Pawar likened persistent civic problems such as water shortages, garbage pileups, traffic congestion and rising pollution levels to 'alarm bells' pointing to the imminent administrative collapse at municipal level. In recent weeks, Pawar has alleged corruption and mismanagement on the part of BJP-led civic administrations; drawing sharp reactions from the BJP senior leadership. Responding to Pawar's earlier allegations, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP state president Ravindra Chavan criticised the NCP leader, asking him to 'look into the mirror' and introspect, given his party's past role in civic governance. Pawar's remarks on Wednesday came despite the pushback from BJP's top state leadership. However, Pawar was quick to clarify at the launch of the campaign that the initiative is limited to the PMC and PCMC and has no connection with the state and central governments where the NCP shares power with the BJP. "I want to make it clear at the outset that this campaign concerns only the failures of the municipal corporations in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad where the BJP was in power from 2017 to 2022," he said at the campaign launch, adding that it should not be seen as a criticism of the alliance governments. The 'Alarm' campaign will be rolled out as a digital-first and ground-based initiative, with NCP candidates releasing short videos from problem spots such as potholes, garbage dumping sites, and traffic jams to highlight civic failures....