Lok Sabha elections 2019: BJP confident, Congress uses all cards in Pune

With 100% representation in the Assembly , solid control over the civic body and a sitting MP from the party, the BJP expects not just to retain the second-most important city in the state after Mumbai in terms of jobs, but end Congress hopes of a revival.

Ahead of Pune going to polls on Tuesday, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance brought a caste angle into the contest on Friday, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied a ticket to sitting MP Anil Shirole as he was a Maratha.

The Congress, although hampered by the absence of prominent leaders, looks to come back by raising its voice against BJP’s “unfulfilled” promises. Pune was once a Congress bastion. (HT Photo)

With 100% representation in the Assembly , solid control over the civic body and a sitting MP from the party, the BJP expects not just to retain the second-most important city in the state after Mumbai in terms of jobs, but end Congress hopes of a revival.

The Congress, although hampered by the absence of prominent leaders, looks to come back by raising its voice against BJP’s “unfulfilled” promises. Pune was once a Congress bastion. The expulsion of Suresh Kalmadi, a three-time MP, from the party and the NCP making inroads into suburban areas, made the Congress relatively weak. Congress leaders hope they will put up a strong fight in the urban constituency. There are 31 candidates in the fray although the main contest is between BJP’s Girish Bapat, a five-term MLA, and Congress nominee and ex-MLC Mohan Joshi.

“The Congress and NCP tried to bring in a caste angle as there was nothing they could hold against us. It is their [rival candidate’s] admission that the BJP has developed the city,” said Girish Bapat, the BJP’s candidate, as campaigning ended on Sunday evening.

“Whatever work BJP claims to have done originated during the Congress-NCP rule. Pune voters know this and will teach BJP a lesson after giving them chances at the local, state and central levels,” said Joshi, who got barely 20 days to campaign as the party delayed announcing his name.

The support extended by AAP, MNS and CPI (M) has strengthened Joshi’s position although a weak network of workers in the city remains a concern.

Locals feel that while some projects have taken off, their woes, especially traffic ones, will not come to an end soon