PUNE, Jan. 17 -- The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar suffered a major setback in western Maharashtra, particularly Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, where the party failed to make any significant impact despite contesting the civic elections in alliance with NCP (SP), led by Ajit's uncle Sharad Pawar. After the 2023 split between uncle and nephew, the reunion ahead of the civic polls had briefly raised expectations that it would help the party reclaim its traditional urban strongholds. However, Friday's civic poll results suggested otherwise, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged to be the dominant force across six of the seven municipal corporations across western Maharashtra, once considered a stronghold of the Pawars. In Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), where BJP fielded candidates in all 165 seats, the party won around 122 seats. The combined strength of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the NCP (SP) had limited sway, with the alliance remaining ahead in only 26 seats - NCP in 23 and NCP (SP) in 3. The Congress won 15 wards. Worst hit was NCP (SP) which failed to open an account in 12 municipal corporations, including Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik and Kolhapur, the erstwhile bastions of Sharad Pawar. Sule had during the campaign said, "I am leading the campaign and will show our party win in most places." Both factions of the NCP are stuck with only a handful of wards. A similar picture emerged in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), long considered an NCP bastion with Ajit Pawar controlling the workings of the civic body. The undivided NCP had ruled the civic body from 2017 until the end of the term in 2022. This time, however, the BJP opened a wide lead, heading in 84 wards in the 128-member civic body. NCP was a distant second leading in 37 seats, while NCP (SP) barely managed to feature in any trend. Shiv Sena however won 6 seats. The results in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad are indeed a blow to the speculation that the Pawar factions could leverage their reunion to rebuild influence in the state and national levels. Political observers noted that despite Ajit Pawar being the second deputy chief minister in the BJP-led government, the party organisation failed to convert that advantage into civic-level gains. "The will of the people is paramount, and we accept it with utmost respect. In this election for local self-government institutions, wherever we have not achieved the expected success, we assure you that we shall continue to work with greater responsibility, honesty and double the zeal to regain the trust of the people. At the same time, I appeal to those who could not secure victory: do not be disheartened, but remain dedicated to serving the people," said Ajit Pawar. The civic poll results comes on the backdrop of Mundhwa land scam, where Ajit's son Parth is embroiled in the controversy, is likely to further dent his political capital and bargaining power as a Mahayuti alliance partner. Across western Maharashtra, the BJP continued to dominate most municipal corporations, including Ichalkaranji, Sangli, Solapur and Kolhapur. In Kolhapur, the BJP was leading in 27 seats, while the Congress was ahead in 23, with Mahayuti partners - BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP - coming together to challenge the party. The only notable exception for the NCP was Ahilyanagar, where the party was leading. Party leaders attributed this performance largely to the influence of local MLA Sangram Jagtap, indicating that individual leadership rather than alliance arithmetic drove the numbers there. Overall, the civic poll trends point to NCP's shrinking urban footprint in western Maharashtra, with the Pawar alliance yet to translate political reconciliation at the top into electoral revival on the ground....