Pune bypolls: High stakes at Kasba Peth

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – who won three out of the five legislative council seats earlier this month – is keen to set the narrative that the tide is turning against the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP. On the other hand, the state government is hoping for a positive result to prove that they have the people’s support.

Mumbai: Assembly by-elections cannot reflect the mood of the public in a state, however, political parties often use their results to judge people’s feelings. The ongoing bypolls for two assembly constituencies – Kasba Peth and Chinchwad – in Pune have gained more significance than usual due to the background of the recent political developments. It is happening amidst the row over the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to recognise chief minister Eknath Shinde-led faction as real Shiv Sena and allocating the party name and election symbol – bow and arrow – to it.

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The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – who won three out of the five legislative council seats earlier this month – is keen to set the narrative that the tide is turning against the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP. On the other hand, the state government is hoping for a positive result to prove that they have the people’s support.

For the past week, the top lot of the ruling alliance was camping in Pune to ensure that the BJP retains both the assembly constituencies for which by-elections were held on Sunday. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior minister Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan and Ravindra Chavan along with eight MLAs have taken part in it. Shinde, too, paid three visits and campaigned extensively for his ruling ally.

According to the BJP insiders, the party is particularly keen on retaining the Kasba Peth assembly constituency, which it has not lost for nearly three decades. There are indications that there could be a close contest between BJP’s Hemant Rasne and Congress’ Ravindra Dhangekar in Kasba Peth which has a mix of Bramhin, OBC, Maratha and Muslim voters.

The contest in the Chinchwad constituency too could be close but BJP is more confident of winning it due to a triangular contest as the Shiv Sena rebel candidate is expected to eat into MVA votes and a strong candidate who could get a benefit of sympathy factor as typically happens in a byelection necessitated by the death of sitting MLAs. BJP leaders say if they end up losing one of the two seats, they won’t mind losing Chinchwad because it was considered NCP leader Ajit Pawar’s stronghold till recently and hence could be politically less damaging.

Kasba Peth, however, is different because the party has not lost it since 1995. More importantly, Pune has become a BJP bastion as the city’s Lok Sabha MP is from BJP, the party has most of the assembly seats in the city and it rules the Pune civic body. Sensing that victory in any of the two constituencies could help them build a narrative against the ruling alliance, the MVA is working together. The Congress was surprisingly quick in deciding candidates in Kasba and even began the campaign early.

A win could give a boost to the party, especially after defeating BJP in Nagpur and Amravati graduates constituencies of the legislative council. Revival of the Congress in Maharashtra could be the last thing BJP would want a year before the general election. That explains why the ruling alliance is pulling out all stops to ensure it retains Kasba Peth.

*Pawar surprised opponents

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar surprised everybody when he appeared at a protest site of state government services aspirants in Pune and interacted with them on February 21. The students preparing for competitive examinations of the Maharashtra Public Services Commission (MPSC) were protesting against its decision to switch to a new syllabus for its examinations this year.

The students were seeking postponement of the decision saying they did not get enough time to prepare for the new syllabus. The examinations are very significant for many who aspire to get government jobs. Most of them come from rural parts of the state.

Pawar assured them he would take up the issue with Shinde and also arranged a meeting with the MPSC. On Thursday, the MPSC announced that it had put its decision on hold and the new syllabus would be applicable from 2025, much to the relief of the students.

While all parties had reached out to the students sitting in protest and Shinde insisted that the decision was not a reaction to anybody’s visit to the students, Pawar’s enthusiasm reminded many of his 2019 election speech amid rains which had a significant impact on election outcome in some parts of the state, including western Maharashtra.

*New appointment in Mantralaya

Many eyebrows were raised in corridors of power when a high-profile official was appointed to a key position in Mantralaya. There was a surprise as the official had worked closely with deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the latter’s term as chief minister while now he would be working with Shinde.

There were speculations about whether Fadnavis had asked Shinde to appoint the official in that particular position. However, according to Shinde camp insiders, the appointment was made by the CM. There also seems to be a Delhi angle to the appointment, they say. The chief minister had personally asked the chief secretary to issue the order within two days, according to information.