E-Paper
Senas presence diminishing in Pune district
Shiv Sena's influence in Pune has sharply declined post-split, now contesting only two seats. The BJP and NCP have gained ground, limiting Sena's reach.
PUNE: Once a formidable force, Shiv Sena’s sway has dwindled significantly in Pune district. Following the party’s split in 2022, the two factions—one led by Uddhav Thackeray and the other by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde—have each tried to increase their hold however either faction is now contesting only one of the 21 assembly seats in the district.
By contrast, Shiv Sena previously held four MLA seats and a strong presence in local bodies. In 2019 however, the party faced a setback, failing to win even a single assembly seat.
Currently, Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting the Kothrud seat where its nominee Chandrakant Mokate is locked in a triangular contest with Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Chandrakant Patil and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNS’s) Kishore Shinde. Whereas Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) has fielded Vijay Shivtare from Purandar against Congress’s Sanjay Jagtap.
Once a party with a strong base in Pune city, Shiv Sena’s reach in Pune district has now reduced to a few areas including parts of Kothrud. The BJP and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have gradually taken over many of the areas that were previously under Sena control.
Not long ago, Shiv Sena had two MPs and four MLAs from Pune district. These included Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil, who represented Shirur in the Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2019; and Shrirang Barne, who has held the Maval seat since 2019. Both MPs are now part of the Mahayuti alliance, with Barne aligned with Shinde’s Sena and Adhalrao with Ajit Pawar’s NCP. The Maval constituency, created after the 2009 delimitation, has been a Shiv Sena stronghold since the party’s inception.
In the assembly, former Shiv Sena MLAs included Chandrakant Mokate (Kothrud), Mahadev Babar (Hadapsar), Vijay Shivtare (Purandar), and Suresh Gore (Khed-Alandi). Shiv Sena also had a strong representation in the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations and once dominated the Zilla Parishad. Over the past decade however, the party’s influence has steadily eroded. In the current alliance structure, Shiv Sena (UBT) holds the Kothrud seat with Mokate as its candidate, while the Shinde faction has retained only Purandar, represented by Shivtare.
Reflecting on the decline, senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Prashant Bade said, “It’s true that not contesting elections limits our ability to expand the party. In 2014, we contested separately but the results were disappointing as we lost Hadapsar and Kothrud to the BJP. In 2019, we joined the alliance and those seats went to the BJP as sitting seats. But we aim to make a comeback, especially in the municipal elections where we plan to field candidates across the city.”
Bade, along with other senior leaders, has expressed frustration over the party’s waning influence in Pune. Some believe that the senior leadership has not prioritised Pune, while others feel that the BJP used Shiv Sena for various agitations only to restrict the latter’s growth later. “The BJP ensured Sena wouldn’t get workers,” one leader remarked, pointing to a lack of grassroots’ support as another reason for the party’s diminished presence in the district.
