Pune, Feb. 10 -- The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) registered a landslide victory in the Pune Zilla Parishad elections. By late Monday evening, the NCP had won 51 of the 73 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trailed far behind with 10 seats. The elections were conducted in the immediate aftermath of Ajit Pawar's death on January 28. No senior leaders from any major party campaigned during the election period, with political activity remaining subdued across the district. Despite this, voters across Pune overwhelmingly backed the NCP, reinforcing the party's long-standing hold over the rural local body. For nearly three decades, the Pune Zilla Parishad had remained a stronghold of late Ajit Pawar, who took a keen and personal interest in its functioning. Rohit Pawar, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader and MLA, said the verdict reflected the electorate's emotional connection with the late leader. "By handing power to the NCP in the Pune and Sangli Zilla Parishads, voters have expressed their faith in Ajit Pawar and paid homage to him. The NCP has also won control of 33 Panchayat Samitis. Had Ajit Pawar been alive, the party could have achieved an even bigger victory," he said. In 2017, NCP undivided had managed to win 43 seats in Pune ZP. The BJP, which emerged as the second-largest party in the district, largely refrained from campaigning. Senior BJP leader and Union civil aviation minister Murlidhar Mohol, who is in charge of Pune district, said the party had consciously kept its campaign low-key. "After Ajit Pawar's death, there was no inclination to campaign for the Zilla Parishad elections," he said. Ajit Pawar was deeply involved in the Zilla Parishad's affairs and regularly reviewed its functioning. He was also known to personally finalise candidates for the elections. Following the NCP's setback in the municipal elections, Pawar had shifted his focus to the Zilla Parishad polls and stitched an alliance with the Sharadchandra Pawar-led NCP faction to prevent a split in votes. On the day of the plane crash that claimed his life, Ajit Pawar was travelling to Baramati as part of the campaign for the Zilla Parishad elections....