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BJP eyes Maha civic polls as PM Modi unveils Shivaji statue, lays foundation stone for projects in Pune
For the BJP, Modi’s visit provided an ideal platform to launch its campaign for the upcoming civic polls in Pune and other parts of Maharashtra
PUNE Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday unveiled a 9.5-feet tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj made up of 1,850 kg of gunmetal in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) premises. Besides unveiling the statue, PM also launched the much-awaited Metro project on two priority stretches in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi’s visit provided an ideal platform to launch its campaign for the upcoming civic polls in Pune and other parts of Maharashtra.
Earlier in December, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Pune and attended a programme of installation of a statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at the PMC’s headquarters and laid the foundation stone for a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
For BJP, the two events, as some political observers are referring to as “social engineering”, played an important part as the party is trying to woo Marathas and Dalits. These two communities in the past had swayed in favour of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, respectively.
The BJP is keen to woo them ahead of municipal elections as the party is trying to retain its control over Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Besides unveiling the statue and launching the metro project, PM laid the foundation stone for the Mula-Mutha river pollution abatement and riverfront development projects. In the pollution abatement project, a total of 11 sewage treatment plants will be constructed, with a combined capacity of around 400 MLD (million litres per day) with a 55 km long sewage carrier pipeline. The capacity of each sewage treatment plant is 396 million MLD. The project, being funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is likely to be completed in three years.
PMC will also implement a riverfront development project on the lines of Sabarmati riverfront development carried out in Ahmedabad. Rejuvenation of the Mula-Mutha river will be done along the nine-kilometre stretch of the river. Both the projects involve works such as river edge protection, interceptor sewage network, public amenities, boating activity etc.
Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said, “We had promised about Pune metro five years ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had done the ground-breaking ceremony, and before the end of our tenure, he again came to launch the Metro project. We have kept our promise.”
Through these two projects, the BJP plans to jump on the development bandwagon to contest the upcoming polls.
As the political equations at the state level have changed, the BJP faces a tough contest from NCP, which is trying to regain hold over Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
