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By:

Rajendra Pandharpure

15 April 2025 at 2:25:54 pm

Pune’s changing political guard

After an eight-year hiatus, the municipal elections promise to usher in a new cohort of politicians and reset the city’s political rhythms Pune:  The long-delayed civic polls herald a generational shift in Pune, arguably Maharashtra’s most politically vibrant city. When voters return to the booths in December, they will be resetting the circuitry of local power. The last municipal elections were held in 2017. Since then, the city’s politics have drifted into a liminal space. The Pune...

Pune’s changing political guard

After an eight-year hiatus, the municipal elections promise to usher in a new cohort of politicians and reset the city’s political rhythms Pune:  The long-delayed civic polls herald a generational shift in Pune, arguably Maharashtra’s most politically vibrant city. When voters return to the booths in December, they will be resetting the circuitry of local power. The last municipal elections were held in 2017. Since then, the city’s politics have drifted into a liminal space. The Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) term expired in May 2022, but the state dithered, leaving India’s seventh-largest city without elected urban governance for almost three years. With the prospect of polls repeatedly deferred, many former corporators had since quietly receded from the daily grind of politics, returning to business interests or simply losing relevance. When the long-pending reservation lottery for civic wards was finally conducted recently, it delivered another shock: dozens of established male aspirants discovered that their seats had vanished from under them. New guard All this has created an unusual political vacuum that younger leaders are eager to fill. Parties across the spectrum, from the BJP to the Congress to the NCP factions, are preparing to field fresher faces. Regardless of who wins, Pune seems destined to witness the rise of a new political class. The churn is already visible. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, both the BJP’s Murlidhar Mohol and the Congress’s then-candidate Ravindra Dhangekar were relative newcomers to national politics. The city’s Assembly seats have also produced new faces in recent years, including Hemant Rasne and Sunil Kamble. Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party elevated Subhash Jagtap and Sunil Tingre to leadership roles, giving them a platform to shape the party’s urban strategy. Even the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a peripheral entity in Pune’s political landscape, is preparing to contest the civic polls with a wholly new leadership slate. The party most uneasy about this transition may be the Congress. Despite routinely polling between 550,000 and 600,000 votes in the city, it has struggled to convert electoral presence into organisational revival. As the Bihar election results were being announced recently, one Pune resident summed up a sentiment widely shared among Congress sympathisers: the party has votes, but not enough dynamic young leaders to carry them. The question, as he put it, is not whether the youth can help the Congress, but whether the Congress will let them. Rewind to the early 2000s, and Pune’s political landscape looked very different. The Congress then had a formidable bench which included Suresh Kalmadi, Chandrakant Shivarkar, Mohan Joshi, Ramesh Bagwe and Abhay Chhajed. The BJP had Pradeep Rawat, Anil Shirole, Girish Bapat, Vijay Kale, Vishwas Gangurde and Dilip Kamble. Sharad Pawar’s NCP, then ascendant, rested on leaders like Ajit Pawar, Ankush Kakade, Vandana Chavan and Ravi Malvadkar. But the 2014 BJP wave flattened the hierarchy. The Congress crumbled; Kalmadi and Rawat faded from view; Gangurde exited the stage. The BJP replaced its old guard with Medha Kulkarni, and then Mukta Tilak, Chandrakant Patil, Bhimrao Tapkir, Madhuri Misal and Jagdish Mulik. Now, as Pune approaches the end of 2025, even Mohol - the BJP’s rising star - risks appearing ‘senior’ in a political landscape tilting toward younger contenders. Demographics are accelerating the shift. Given that Pune’s last civic polls took place eight years ago, an entire cohort of voters since then has reached adulthood. They cast their first ballots in the recent Lok Sabha and Assembly elections; now they will vote in municipal elections for the first time. Their concerns include urban mobility, climate resilience, digital governance, employment differ sharply from the older generation’s priorities. Their political loyalties, still fluid, are likely to crystallise around leaders who can speak to these new anxieties. The coming election promises a radical change in Pune’s political ecosystem. Long dominated by legacy figures, that ecosystem is set for nothing less than a generational reset. The departure of veteran leaders, the decennial rebalancing of parties, and the impatience of a newly enfranchised urban youth all point towards a younger, more competitive, and possibly more unpredictable political order. Whether this transition will deliver better governance remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the next generation seems determined not to wait another eight years to make itself heard.

Political Turmoil in South Korea: Crisis, Politics, and Implications

The martial law crisis revealed both the strength of South Korea’s institutions and the fragility of its democracy.

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South Korea is facing one of its gravest political crises since democratisation in 1987. On 12 November, former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was arrested for allegedly inciting insurrection related to last year’s declaration of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol. His arrest is a key moment in a probe that has already led to senior detentions and Yoon’s impeachment and removal.


Man at the centre

Hwang Kyo-ahn is a major figure in South Korean politics. He served as Prime Minister from 2015 to 2017 under President Park Geun-hye and briefly as Acting President after her impeachment in 2016. Before entering politics, he spent three decades as a prosecutor, gaining both prominence and controversy.The path to his arrest began on 3 December 2024. That night, President Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the country by declaring an emergency martial law. He accused the opposition-controlled National Assembly of being an “anti-state den of criminals” aligned with North Korea. He claimed the decree was needed to protect democracy. Yoon deployed armed soldiers to the Assembly. He reportedly ordered the arrest of opposition leaders and even members of his own party.The response was swift and unexpected. Legislators rushed to parliament and bypassed military barricades. They unanimously revoked the order within hours. Mass protests erupted nationwide. Opposition parties immediately launched impeachment proceedings. Within days, the National Assembly impeached Yoon and suspended his powers. The Constitutional Court upheld the move and permanently removed him from office.


During this period, Hwang posted messages supporting Yoon’s martial law declaration. He urged a crackdown on “pro-North leftist forces”. Prosecutors say these statements incited insurrection and endorsed actions that violated constitutional norms. After ignoring multiple summonses from the special counsel, Hwang was detained and arrested last week.


Political reactions

Hwang’s arrest is part of a broader probe into officials tied to the attempted power grab. Former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong was also arrested, accused of failing to report Yoon’s illegal martial law plan, as well as perjury, destroying evidence, and falsifying documents. He is the eighth NIS chief to be arrested since the agency’s founding, highlighting long-standing concerns about politicisation and abuse of power in the security services.The legal process has been deeply divisive. Soon after Hwang’s detention, a court rejected the arrest warrant, citing insufficient evidence.Reactions remain sharply split: opposition lawmakers and civil society groups demand accountability for all involved, while conservative politicians and commentators dismiss the probe as a political “witch hunt”.


Democracy Under Stress

The martial law crisis exposed both the strength and fragility of South Korea’s democracy.Swift action by lawmakers, mass protests, and interventions by the National Assembly and Constitutional Court showed resilient institutions and strong public commitment to constitutional rule.But the crisis also exposed weaknesses: the presidency concentrates significant power, and critics say weak checks and balances—combined with a single five-year term—allow room for abuse. With this now the second impeachment in under a decade, calls for constitutional reforms to curb executive power are growing.Deep political polarisation is another concern. Politics has become increasingly fragmented, with parties prioritising loyalty over compromise. Impeachment motions and presidential vetoes surged during Yoon’s brief tenure, signalling eroding institutional restraint. This polarisation undermines cooperation and threatens democratic stability.The intelligence and security services also raise alarms. The former NIS director’s arrest underscores fear of politicisation within institutions meant to remain neutral and the risks when security agencies serve partisan rather than national interests.


Regional, global ramifications

South Korea’s political turmoil also has regional repercussions. North Korea has shown unusual restraint, limiting its commentary to domestic media and avoiding efforts to exploit the crisis.The United States has voiced confidence in South Korea’s institutions while avoiding direct criticism of Yoon to preserve alliance stability. China has also been cautious despite earlier anti-China rhetoric, likely calculating that non-interference serves its interests. Japan has issued careful statements, worried about the impact on trilateral security cooperation with Seoul and Washington.Economically, the crisis has shaken investor confidence. Analysts warn that prolonged instability could weaken South Korea’s credit rating and slow growth. With the global economy strained by trade tensions, the leaderless impeachment period has left the country poorly positioned to manage rising pressures.South Korea’s experience underscores the need for swift institutional pushback against authoritarian overreach, the risks of concentrated executive power, and the difficulty of sustaining pro-democracy coalitions amid deep partisan divides.President Lee Jae-myung must now rebuild public trust, manage economic pressures, and navigate a complex foreign-policy landscape. At home, calls to curb presidential power and strengthen checks and balances are growing, though consensus remains unlikely amid entrenched political divisions.


The stakes for South Korea's democracy remain high.

 

(The writer is a foreign affairs expert. Views personal.)


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