Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday renominated Chetan Tupe from the Hadapsar Assembly constituency in Pune for the November 20 Maharashtra polls. This comes despite Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena had demanded to contest the seat.
Even though Shiv Sena does not have any MLAs in Pune city currently, the party’s city president Pramod Bhangire had said that the party has gained significant ground in terms of organisation and cadre strength. He said, “There were some media reports that said Shiv Sena has no claim on any of the seats in Pune city but these reports are false. We have a claim on at least three out of eight seats in Pune city. Shiv Sena is specifically eyeing the Hadapsar, Wadgaon Sheri and Khadakwasla Assembly constituencies.”
Bhangire, who was eying for the Hadapsar constituency himself, had urged Shinde to consider the party’s demand for these three constituencies.
Historically, Shiv Sena had a presence in Pune, with two MLAs in 2009—one in Kothrud and one in Hadapsar.
Meanwhile, the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) has announced Afroz Mulla as the candidate from Hadapsar. According to his X (formerly Twitter) bio, he is the convenor of the Secularist Muslim Front and a state committee member of Vanchit Bahujan Yuva Aaghadi (VBYA). He is a Bombay High Court lawyer by profession and has studied at the University of London and the University of Glasgow.
Additionally, Maharashtra Muslim Conference (MMC) National Convener Zubair Memon has also said that he will contest the elections from the Hadapsar seat. Zubair claimed that Hadapsar is a Muslim-majority constituency, with 33.4 per cent of its population from the community. He added that it is the only seat in western Maharashtra where a Muslim candidate has a strong chance of winning, supported solely by the votes from the community.
On the other hand, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is likely to nominate NCP (SP) Pune City Chief Prashant Jagtap from this seat.
