E-Paper
Pune bypolls: Sena rebel Kalate to contest election, AAP withdraws in Kasba Peth
Kalate ran for election as a Shiv Sena candidate in 2014 and then contested as an independent candidate in 2019
The final day of withdrawing nomination forms for the bypolls turned out to be eventful. Despite last-ditch phone calls from Shiv Sena (UBT faction) leader Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) failed to persuade rebel Rahul Kalate to withdraw his nomination from Chinchwad.
Meanwhile, in the Kasba Peth constituency, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) decided to withdraw its candidate, leaving the MVA and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to fight it out.
Defying party orders, Kalate will contest the Chinchwad byelection as an independent candidate. This will see a three-way contest between Kalate, BJP’s Ashwini Jagtap and Nana Kate of the NCP.
Kalate ran for election as a Shiv Sena candidate in 2014 and then contested as an independent candidate in 2019. Despite little backing, Kalate gave a close fight to the late MLA Laxman Jagtap. In the 2019 election, Kalate garnered 1.12 lakh votes.
Considering his clout, the NCP was planning to offer him a ticket for the bypoll, but internal party resistance meant the party preferred Kate over him.
The AAP has withdrawn their candidate for the Kasba seat in order to focus on the city’s upcoming municipal elections, a party spokesperson said. In the Kasba Assembly, five applicants withdrew their candidature.
