E-Paper
Sena’s Dhanwade to contest Kasba as an independent after party’s shutout in Pune
After the BJP announced its first list on Monday, all eight assembly seats in Pune will be contested by the BJP; Shiv Sena leaders not happy with having no seats to contest
Shiv Sena workers in Pune are preparing a mini-revolt in the city against its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after the saffron parties’ seat sharing deal left the Sena not contesting a single seat in the city for the upcoming Assembly elections.
After the BJP announced its first list on Monday, all eight assembly seats in Pune will be contested by the BJP.
Vishal Dhanwade, a Shiv Sena corporator in Pune, said, “As the party did not get a single seat in Pune I have decided to contest the Assembly elections from the Kasba peth constituency as an independent candidate. I will file my nomination on October 3 and all the Shiv sainiks (local leaders) will participate in my campaign. We have to keep Shiv Sena alive in Pune,” he said.
Former Shiv sainiks, requesting anonymity said that the BJP has strategically killed Shiv Sena in the city. “The BJP has time and again used Shiv Sena leaders to protest as and when needed, but when the time came to allot seats, the BJP has backtracked,” one Sena party worker said.
“Despite Pune being the birthplace of Balasaheb Thackeray, the BJP has not given even a single seat to us. We were hoping to get two seats in Pune - Shivajinagar and Hadapsar, but were left disappointed. How can we call this an alliance when the BJP has not fielded a single candidate from Shiv Sena in Pune? We have no choice but to respect the decision of the leadership and wait for further instructions,” said Sham Deshpande, Shiv Sena leader in the city.
