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No unopposed elections? BJP ready to contest Kasba, Chinchwad bypolls
BJP leader and Pune district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil on Friday held a meeting with party workers from the Kasba assembly seat for bypolls
Although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has initiated discussions with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for facilitating unopposed elections from both the Kasba and Chinchwad assembly seats, the MVA is learned to be keeping its cadres ready for contesting elections. Consequently, BJP leader and Pune district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil on Friday held a meeting with party workers from the Kasba assembly seat for by-polls.
Patil said, “Considering Maharashtra’s tradition, we are starting discussions with the MVA for unopposed elections from both the Kasba and Chinchwad assembly constituencies. But if the MVA at the last moment does not agree, we need to be prepared for the elections.” Patil instructed all BJP leaders and workers to prepare for the elections and start reaching out to voters.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar had recently said, “There are many candidates from our party willing to contest the elections. Considering the number of willing candidates, it looks difficult to have an unopposed election.”
Whereas Congress state unit president Nana Patole had said, “Usually, if there is death of any leader, it is a tradition in Maharashtra to give tickets to their family members and have unopposed elections. But the BJP did not follow this tradition while the MVA was in power. Against this backdrop, we will have to think about their proposal.”
With both NCP and Congress leaders hinting that they may not be able to follow tradition, the BJP is keeping both options open. On the one hand, the party is discussing the possibility of unopposed elections with the opposition while on the other hand, it is preparing its rank and file for contesting the elections.
