Kasba Peth, Chinchwad bypolls today: Prestige battle for Shiv Sena-BJP, MVA. 10 points
Kasba Peth, Chinchwad assembly bypolls: The voting will begin at 7am. The counting will take place on March 2.
Voting for the Kasba and Pimpri-Chinchwad assembly bypolls in Maharashtra, considered a prestige battle for the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), will be held on Sunday. The voting began at 7am. The counting of votes will take place on March 2.
Top points on Kasba, Pimpri-Chinchwad assembly bypolls:
1. The bye-elections in Kasba and Chinchwad were necessitated because of the death of Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap, respectively.
2. The Kasba constituency in Pune city will witness a contest between the BJP's Hemant Rasane and Congress's Ravindra Dhangekar who is supported by the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT).
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3. Chinchwad, an industrial township near Pune city, will see a contest between Ashwini Jagtap of the BJP and Nana Kate of the NCP.
4. There are 2,75,428 registered voters in Kasba constituency. Chinchwad constituency has 5,68,954 registered voters.
5. Shiv Sena head and chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, state Congress president Nana Patole, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and others campaigned in both the constituencies over the last 10 days.
6. On Saturday, Congress Ravindra Dhangekar went on a hunger strike after alleging that the BJP distributed money to voters. He ended the strike after police assured that they would investigate the matter.
7. This will be the second instance of bypolls in the state since Shinde took power in the state by splitting the Shiv Sena and snatching the chief minister’s post from Uddhav Thackeray. However, this will be the first election since the Election Commission of India declared the Shinda faction as the “real Shiv Sena” earlier this month.
8. Many residents believe that the polling will determine Maharashtra’s politics for the coming days. If the Congress candidate fighting polls with the support of the MVA snatches both the seats from the BJP, it can be considered as the first important victory after the grand alliance was formed. The possible development can be perceived as a precursor to civic polls scheduled in various cities, including Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik and Aurangabad.
9. If the BJP manages to retain the two seats, the MVA will have a tough time in sticking together.
10. The residents of Kasba Peth, which largely covers the central parts of Pune including peth areas, seek redevelopment of old wadas, encroachment of roads and footpaths, congested bylanes and inadequate water supply. Their counterparts at Chinchwad face shortage of water supply, traffic chaos and slow work of Metro rail.
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