Pune, Jan. 2 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced and supported an independent candidate, Aditi Babar, for Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections from Ward No. 2, replacing Pooja More-Jadhav, who withdrew her nomination following internal opposition and social media trolling.

The party on Friday announced its support for Aditi Babar, an MBA in Finance, from the ward. Pune BJP President Dhiraj Ghate said the decision was taken after consultations with senior leaders to present a candidate with a professional background and administrative understanding ahead of the civic polls.

Speaking to the media here, Aditi Babar said, "I am thankful to the party leadership for their support. I filed as an independent candidate, but w...