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Shirur constituency watch: Old rivals, new poll symbols and state’s largest auto hub
The battle in Shirur is between two NCPs with actor-turned-politician Kolhe taking on three-time Member of Parliament (MP) Adhalrao and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar making it prestigious for himself by challenging the sitting MP
What appeared to be an easy contest initially in Shirur Lok Sabha seat for Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) nominee Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil has been made difficult by rival candidate from Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) Amol Kolhe by leading the poll narrative.
The battle here is between two NCPs with actor-turned-politician Kolhe taking on three-time Member of Parliament (MP) Adhalrao and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar making it prestigious for himself by challenging the sitting MP.
Both candidates had faced off in 2019 too when Kolhe, then candidate of undivided NCP, defeated Adhalrao who contested on unsplit Shiv Sena ticket.
In 2014, Kolhe began his political career campaigning for Patil. Kolhe in 2019 joined the undivided NCP and defeated Patil, who was an undivided Sena candidate, during the general elections held in the year. Kolhe won with a margin of 58,483 votes which has a lion’s share of Ajit.
In this general election, Shirur constituency has come into the spotlight after Ajit publicly declared his intention to defeat the current MP Amol Kolhe, in December last year.
Adhalrao, a founding member of the NCP, left the party in 2004 and joined Shiv Sena (undivided) and won the general elections—2004, 2009 and 2014, before being defeated by Kolhe in 2019. Kolhe continued to remain with the NCP (SP) after the party was divided. Patil joined NCP after Sena and NCP splits and hopes to win the 2024 elections.
The constituency comprising rural and urban areas with three major Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporations (MIDC) — Chakan, Ranjangaon and Bhosari — houses major automobile and electronic companies.
Historically, Shirur has special importance as it includes places like Shivneri, the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj; Vadhu-Tulapur, the burial place of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj; Alandi, where Dnyaneshwar Maharaj took a samadhi; Bhima Shankar, one of the 12 jyotirlingas; and Rajgurunagar the birthplace of martyr Rajguru.
Incidentally, this year’s election is quite crucial for both the NCP factions as the Sharad Pawar-led party and Ajit’s faction have made it a prestige issue to tighten their grip over the constituency. In rural pockets of the constituency, the major problems are woes of farmers with the government failing to address the falling rates of agricultural products. The ban on onion export lifted in Gujarat initially and a week before Maharashtra’s onion belt goes to poll is a key issue that can affect MVA candidates in Shirur.
Water issues in Junnar, Ambegaon, and Shirur; bad roads and poor road connectivity, poor milk procurement rates and GST on agricultural products are key problems faced by residents of the constituency. Also, the problem of leopard attacks in Junnar and adjoining tehsils. MVA candidate Kolhe blamed the Centre for anti-farmer policies. Talegaon-Dabade to Shikrapur road sees regular vehicle hold-up and traffic chaos in Chakan are issues faced by citizens.
In the urban pockets of the constituency like Bhosari and Hadapsar, the key issues are traffic congestion and water shortage. Citizens in this area demand regular water supply and road widening with flyovers on Ahmednagar Road and Solapur Road. Hadapsar and Keshavnagar residents face problem of overflowing garbage.
Santosh Keshav Chaudhari, a Khed resident, said, “Chakan MIDC Road sees traffic chaos daily. There are no alternative roads with heavy vehicles plying on the road. The work of ring road is pending.”
Sanjeevan Sangale of Chikhali said, “Most residents here depend on tanker water. The MP should work towards effective implementation of laws like the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act,1963 and Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.”
Kolhe said mega project like Vedanta-Foxconn which was supposed to come up in Talegaon, in vicinity of Shirur constituency, was shifted to Gujarat.
“Not a single big project has come in Shirur over the years. Since 2019, over ₹19,500-crore projects of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) alone have happened. Significant projects like the Indrayani Medicity and railway project have been approved in the constituency,” he said.
Although Kolhe faces anti-incumbency in rural areas, he hopes to weather the situation banking on the sympathy for Sharad Pawar. Also, he hopes to get votes projecting his loyalty to Pawar senior, especially after the split in the party.
Ajit and Adhalrao have been raking up the issue of Kolhe’s absence in the constituency during his five-year term due to his acting assignments. They have claimed that it has heavily impacted the development in the constituency. On his part, Kolhe is narrating his track record as the active and performing MP and his award as “Best Parliamentarian” to counter criticism.
“Major projects like Pune-Nashik railway followed by me for 13 years and approved in 2015 is pending for the five years, and the cost of the project has increased to ₹24,000 crore. The opposition have done nothing in five years, and I have succeeded to bring ₹1,500 crore for the people in the constituency. I held the Janta Darbar over 813 times on Sundays to solve the problems of citizens,” he said.
The Mahayuti contestant said he is making efforts to make water available for farmers in Junnar, Ambegaon and Shirur.
“Over 1.50 lakh employees are working on temporary posts in many firms. I want to take help of the government and come up with a policy to make their job permanent. I need over ₹25,000 crore to solve the traffic issues on Solapur Road, Pune-Ahmednagar Highway and Chakan-Talegaon-Shikrapur road.” he said.
Political observer Abhay Deshpande said the Shirur fight will be tough and the NCP split and importance given to Kolhe by NCP (SP) party is likely to benefit the MVA candidate. “The issues like agrarian crisis, Maratha reservation and response to dirty politics will matter in the constituency. The Mahayuti alliance have the benefit of strong political leaders in five assemblies, but how many votes can be polarised has to be watched. This is a fight between Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar.”
