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Pune Cantt, Shivajinagar see more Congress aspirants seeking tickets
The interviews were conducted by Congress leader and former Minister Yashomati Thakur, along with Pune city unit president Arvind Shinde on Sunday
As the Congress party is likely to secure the Shivajinagar, Pune Cantonment, and Kasba Peth assembly constituencies in Pune city in the seat-sharing arrangement among MVA partners, the number of ticket aspirants for these constituencies has surged. Notably, the Shivajinagar constituency alone has attracted as many as 12 contenders, including a BJP member, according to a list released by the Congress party following the candidate interviews.
The interviews were conducted by Congress leader and former Minister Yashomati Thakur, along with Pune city unit president Arvind Shinde on Sunday.
A total of twelve candidates have been interviewed for the Shivajinagar seat. Among them is Sunny Nimhan, a former BJP corporator and son of ex-MLA Vinayak Nimhan, who is now seeking to contest from Shivajinagar under the Congress banner.
Commenting on the development, Nimhan said, “I was personally not present for the interview but yet, I’m willing to contest the election. I will officially announce my stand soon.”
Other prominent aspirants for the Shivajinagar ticket include former MLA Deepti Chavdhari, Dattatray Bahirat, and Manish Anand.
The remaining candidates are Anil Pawar, Javed Nilgar, Kailash Gaikwad, Pooja Anand, Raj Nikam, Mahendra Sawant, Ramesh Pawale, and Sanjay Agrawal.
In the 2019 assembly elections, Congress leader Bahirat lost to BJP’s Siddharth Shirole by a narrow margin of 5,124 votes. This year, Bahirat has voiced his opposition to Nimhan’s entry into the Congress party, while firmly reiterating his claim to the ticket.
Bahirat said, “Last time Congress party missed out on the win by a small margin, but this time we will record a win in the Shivajinagar assembly constituency.”
Following Shivajinagar, the Pune Cantonment constituency has also seen high interest, with 11 candidates vying for the ticket. Among them are former minister and MLA Ramesh Bagwe, Avinash Bagwe, Avinash Salve, Bhimrao Patole, Latabai Rajguru, Mukesh Dhiwar, Chhaya Jadhav, Sujit Yadav, and Milind Ahire.
In Kasba Peth, the only constituency with a sitting Congress MLA in Pune, aspirants include incumbent MLA Ravindra Dhangekar, former mayor Kamal Vyavhare, former corporator Mukhtar Shaikh, Balasaheb Dabhekar, Shivanand Hulaylkar, and Sangeeta Tiwari. Dhangekar won this seat during the 2023 bypolls and is likely to secure a ticket again even as he lost to Murlidhar Mohol during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Though the Parvati constituency is currently held by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress is staking a claim this time, with former deputy mayor Aba Bagul seeking the ticket. He is joined by Sambhaji Jagtap and Santosh Patole in the race for nomination.
In Kothrud, Sandeep Mokate is the sole candidate who has applied. For Wadgaonsheri and Hadapsar, which are currently NCP-held constituencies, some Congress leaders have also expressed interest in securing a ticket.
