Political parties like the Congress and the BJP are hoping for a good turnout in the bypolls to the Kasba and Chinchwad Assembly seats in Maharashtra later this month. In the general elections and earlier as well, the voting percentage recorded in these two seats has been a cause for concern among the parties.
“Voting percentage in the bypolls are always much less. Our workers and leaders should therefore make efforts to get a bigger turnout in Kasba,” said state Congress chief Nana Patole at a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) rally in the constituency Sunday evening.
Patole said the bypolls are crucial to oust the BJP government in Maharashtra. “The ‘Khoke’ and ED Sarkar are in power in the state. To get rid of this government, these elections are very crucial. It is a good opportunity to rattle those who are power-drunk,” he said. NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) city chief Gajanan Tharkude, MVA candidate and Congress leader Ravindra Dhangekar, Bhor MLA Sangram Thopte, Pune city Congress chief Arvind Shinde, former city chief Ramesh Bagwe, former Congress MLCs Mohan Joshi and Ulhas Pawar were also present. The BJP has fielded Hemant Rasane in Kasba while denying party ticket to a family member of deceased party MLA Mukta Tilak.
Speaking on similar lines, Ajit Pawar said, “They indulged in illegal tactics to grab power. The government is unstable and this instability will affect the development of the state. This government will have to be ousted. Therefore, all MVA workers and leaders should put up a united front so we can win the elections and overthrow the government.”
General secretary of Pune Congress Ramesh Iyer said, “What our state president said is true. The voting percentage in the Kasba seat dropped drastically in the 2019 elections compared to 2014. In 2019, Kasba registered only 51 per cent voting while in 2014, the turnout was 61 per cent.”
Iyer said the Congress has booth committees which will take up the task of increasing the voting percentage. “Our booth committees have 10 members each and they have to look after 800-1,000 voters. Our workers will go house-to-house urging citizens to come out in big numbers for the sake of the development of the constituency. Kasba has suffered a lot for years. Development has taken a hit. And we are sure our appeal to the voters will encourage them to come out and vote in good numbers,” he said.
In the Chinchwad seat, Mahesh Landge, president of the BJP’s Pimpri-Chinchwad unit, said the party is hoping for a much bigger turnout compared to the previous election. “The voting percentage in Chinchwad was around 51 per cent in the last election, but this time the situation is different. The elections are being held after the death of sitting BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap. His death has come as a shock to the people of his constituency,” he said.
“This is because Laxman bhau was instrumental in changing the face of suburbs in his constituency. The kind of development that Chinchwad has seen probably has no parallel in all of Pune. I, therefore, feel that there will be a much bigger turnout in favour of our candidate Ashwini Jagtap,” he said. Ashwini is Laxman Jagtap’s wife.
Landge said that wherever Ashwini campaigns, there is a huge turnout to see and listen to her. “Which is why we feel the voter turnout will be bigger this time,” he said.
Meanwhile, Independent candidate and Shiv Sena (UBT) rebel Rahul Kalate said, “It is true that last time there was less voting contrary to expectations. There was a direct fight between two candidates. But this time there are three candidates and all of them are campaigning hard which will automatically result in increased voting.”
Nana Kate of the NCP is the MVA candidate in the fray for Chinchwad. Bypolls in the Kasba and Chinchwad seats will be held on February 26, while the counting of votes will be on March 2.
