Pune: The BJP may have succeeded in retaining its fortress in Pune but its citadels are no more as strong as they were some years ago. This has been proved by the outcome of the Lok Sabha poll. It has also kindled hopes of aspirants from the Congress for the upcoming assembly elections. Dhangekar got a good lead in the Pune Cantonment Board assembly segment.
Winner BJP candidate Murlidhar Mohol received the highest number of votes in Kothrud, Vadgaon Sheri, Parvati, Kasba Peth and Shivajinagar segments. The votes in Kothrud and Parvati proved decisive for Mohol’s win.
Murlidhar Mohol got a lead of 74,400 votes in Kothrud and 29,000 in Parvati. Ravindra Dhangekar polled 16,000 more votes than Mohol in the Pune Cantonment segment. Both got almost the equal number of votes in Shivajinagar. Mohol was leading here with a margin of 3,000 votes. The Maha Yuti candidate had 15,000 more votes in Kasba Peth and 14,000 more in Vadgaon Sheri than his nearest rival.
The main rivals were Mohol and Dhangekar while VBA’s Vasant More, MIM’s Anis Sundke and 35 others also contested the poll.
Of the six assembly seats under the Pune Lok Sabha constituency, the BJP has four seats, one seat is held by the NCP (AP) while Dhangekar is the sitting Congress MLA from Kasba Peth.
Dhangekar had a surprising win in the assembly bypoll as it fell vacant after the death of the then MLA Mukta Tilak. The Congress thought that he would repeat his performance in the Lok Sabha poll also.
Though the contest appeared one-sided initially. Ravindra Dhangekar gave a good fight. He fell victim to bickering in the city unit of the Congress. Though the party posted six MLAs from Vidarbha to check groupism, it did not succeed. There were also reports of bitterness among city leaders of the Shiv Sena (UBT).
