India, Sept. 27 -- With the local body elections approaching, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has shifted his attention to the Pune zilla parishad (ZP), a stronghold long dominated by his family, and is working to ensure it remains under his control.

On Friday, three local leaders - Jalindhar Kamathe, Murlidhar Nimbalkar, and Maruti Kindre - along with several workers joined the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction at the party's Pune office. Welcoming them, Pawar said, "Even those who believe in our ideology should join us. We are doing citizen-centric work, and all party workers must keep people's issues as their top priority."

Though occupied with visits to flood-affected areas in recent days, Pawar has been perso...