BJP's Murlidhar Mohol vs Congress' Ravindra Dhangekar: No simple choices for Pune voters
BJP and Congress in the upcoming election on Pune Lok Sabha seat, which was once the stronghold of the BJP over the past two Lok Sabha elections. However, a strange quirk of fate has altered the political equations here.
In the 2019 assembly elections, BJP won five of the six assembly seats of the Pune Parliamentary constituency. It all looked like a cakewalk for the party. However, two incidents in March 2023 changed the dynamics of the constituency.
Pune's MP and senior BJP leader Girish Bapat died after a prolonged illness. Before becoming an MP in 2019, Bapat was the MLA from Kasba Peth constituency, a BJP stronghold which the party didn't lose since 1995.
After Bapat, it was Mukta Tilak, former Pune mayor, who became the MLA from the constituency. In December 2022, Tilak passed away due to cancer. In March 2023, a bypoll was held for Kasba Peth, where the Congress fielded Ravindra Dhangekar. Dhangekar sprung a surprise by winning the BJP stronghold by over 10,000 votes. This was a shocker for the BJP as the party never expected to lose the seat. There was no bypoll for the Pune Lok Sabha for more than a year since Girish Bapat's death.
Lok Sabha Elections#Elections With
- All
- Uttar Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Tamil Nadu
- West Bengal
- Bihar
- Karnataka
- Andhra Pradesh
- Telangana
- Kerala
- Madhya Pradesh
- Rajasthan
- Delhi
- Other States
Unnao: Will it be a hatrick for BJP's Sakshi Maharaj?
Lok Sabha polls: BJP's journo pick Vs Congress' educationist in Kanpur
Lok Sabha polls: Sharad Pawar's Nilesh Lanke giving a tough fight to BJP's
Read more on economictimes.indiatimes.com
