Amid uncertainty on whether parties will arrive at a consensus regarding fielding candidates unopposed for the Assembly bypolls in Kasba and Chinchwad, the Pune unit of BJP has begun preparations in a bid to win the seats with an increased vote margin. The seats had fallen vacant after the deaths of sitting BJP MLAs.
“We had a meeting on preparations for the bypolls in Kasba and Chinchwad. We don’t want to be careless as a few aspirants from Opposition parties have started putting up their posters,” said Pune guardian minister Chandrakant Patil. The bypoll will be held on February 27.
The BJP has constituted three committees. “The election would be contested under the guidance of sitting BJP MP Girish Bapat who belongs to the Kasba area,” Patil said.
Earlier Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had alluded to “a tradition in Maharashtra that if a sitting MLA dies and his close relative is fielded by the same party, then rival parties do not field their candidates”, referring to the Andheri East bypoll held last year.
The saffron party did not field any candidates for the Andheri bypoll in November as a result of which Rutuja Latke of the Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray was elected unopposed. Latke is the widow of former Sena MLA from Andheri (East), Ramesh Latke, whose death in May 2022 paved the way for the bypoll.
Patil, however, said he did not know the stand of Opposition parties in the Kasba and Chinchwad bypolls. On many aspirants in the BJP for the Kasba Assembly seat, he said, “Anyone entering politics carries the ambition of being a corporator, MLA or MP. There is nothing wrong in it. Without a target, no one can work and grow.”
The state BJP unit recommends the party’s candidate to the national unit, Patil explained. “The decision is taken by the parliamentary board in Delhi. However, the survey for the best candidates for the seats is underway.”
The last date for filing nominations ahead of the bypolls in Kasba and Chinchwad is February 7. The deadline for withdrawal of nominations is February 10.
The seats had fallen vacant after the deaths of sitting BJP MLAs Mukta Tilak (Kasba Peth) and Laxman Jagtap (Chinchwad). Tilak, who was former Pune Mayor, passed away on December 22. She was suffering from cancer. Jagtap died on January 3 at a private hospital in Baner after a protracted illness.
