Lok Sabha elections 2019: Political parties eyeing Pune outskirts for campaigns

With educational institutions not allowing any political rallies following the poll watchdog directive and extensive Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha-Metro) work on the banks of river Mutha, political parties are in a dilemma about open spaces for holding rallies.

The poll campaign in the city suffers a hit after the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed that campuses of educational institutions will be unavailable for holding rallies. Political parties are left with open spaces on the outskirts of the city limits for holding big rallies that involve participation of thousands of supporters.

According to the police, though permission for political rallies on roads was stopped some years ago, historical sites too have been disallowed for rallies, now. (HT PHOTO)

With educational institutions not allowing any political rallies following the poll watchdog directive and extensive Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha-Metro) work on the banks of river Mutha, political parties are in a dilemma about open spaces for holding rallies.

Gopal Tiwari, Congress leader, said, “Earlier, we used to hold massive rallies at Deccan riverbed, racecourse ground where Sonia Gandhi gave her speech, SP College ground where Rajiv Gandhi addressed the crowd, but this year we are facing a problem. There are not many options of holding rallies within the city and we might have to go to outskirts, but the problem of people from the city coming to these areas remains.”

Tiwari said that the Congress is planning to appeal to institutes like Shri Shivaji Preparatory Military School (SSPMS) or College of Engineering Pune (COEP) to give their grounds as it is used for organising exhibitions.

“If we don’t get those, then we are looking at various chowks like Shivaji Putla in Kothrud, Phadke Haud chowk in Kasba Peth, Sant Kabir chowk in Nana Peth or even Bhopale chowk in Camp, to recreate the earlier magic of huge rallies. However, everything will depend upon getting police permission. We are also looking at the options of Pune Municipal Corporation-run school grounds,” he said.

Yogesh Gogawale, BJP city chief, said, “We recently had a discussion with the police about elections, but this topic was not discussed. There is no clarity on the subject yet though we are optimistic of getting one of the grounds from Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC), SP College or Fergusson College only if the collector intervenes and get us the permission. Earlier, rallies used to be held outside Shaniwarwada, but even those are not allowed. Hence, we are looking at options in Baner, Balewadi or even Kharadi which still has some open grounds. Until then, the BJP will have small meetings at auditoriums like Balgandharva Rang Mandir.

According to the police, though permission for political rallies on roads was stopped some years ago, historical sites too have been disallowed for rallies.

Anil Muley, deputy commissioner, land and estate, PMC, said, “The civic body has identified 120 amenity spaces within the municipal city limits for holding political rallies. For political parties to rent these places, the price depends upon the location and the area (size). The size of PMC amenity spaces varies from being able to accommodate 200-1,000 people. The list will be released formally later this week.”

Some of the places on the list are Warje, Kharadi and Balewadi, the civic official said.