Maharashtra polls: Pune battle lines almost clear as parties announce second list

With the latest announcements of candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the battle line for five of the eight assembly seats in Pune has almost come to an end.

While Shivajinagar, Kothrud and Pune town await final clarity, candidates for the remaining seats have been finalized and many familiar faces are back in the fray. In most constituencies, the composition remains the same as in the previous assembly elections.

In the latest lists, the BJP has included Hemant Rasne from Kasba Peth constituency, Bhimrao Tapkir from Khadakwasla and Sunil Kamble from Pune constituency. Rasne lost the 2023 assembly by-election to Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar, who will be in the fray again.

Commenting on the development, BJP leader and Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol said, “Now that seat sharing is complete and the picture is clearer, we will retain all our seats in Pune and Western Maharashtra and win even more seats.”

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has nominated its former shareholder Ashwini Kadam in Parvathy’s seat, from which Congress candidate Aba Bagul has already filed his candidature as an independent candidate. At the same time, the party has nominated former wrestler Sachin Dodke for the Khadakwasla assembly seat.

On seat sharing, NCP (SP) leader Prashant Jagtap said, “We will win the assembly elections. This time we are fighting both our colleagues and traditional oppositionists. We are confident that like the Lok Sabha, we will emerge victorious in the assembly elections and form the next government.”

New faces have emerged only in Hadapsar and Vadgaonsheri districts as a result of the NCP split and the presence of sitting MLAs in these areas. Most parties have chosen to support sitting candidates rather than field new candidates and all the eight sitting MLAs in Pune are ready to contest the elections again.

BJP leader and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol expressed confidence in the prospects of the alliance: “Not only in Pune city, but throughout Western Maharashtra, our Maha Yuti will occupy all the existing seats and aim to win even more than in the last elections. ”

Reports indicate that the BJP has delayed decisions on Cantonment and Khadakwasla tickets as internal polls have raised concerns about the performance of sitting MPs Kamble and Tapkir.