With the Maharashtra Assembly Elections set for November 20, all political parties and their workers have ramped up campaigning for their respective candidates across the state. This election features a direct contest between two alliances — the ruling Mahayuti, which includes the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT). While the MVA secured most seats in the recently held Lok Sabha polls in the state, the Mahayuti is aiming for a comeback, leveraging popular schemes like the Ladki Bahin Yojana to attract voters.
Meanwhile, in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, a group of like-minded individuals has come together to campaign against the Mahayuti government. Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Ajinkya Desai, an IT professional who is one of the members, said the group is made up of chartered accountants, engineers and civil service aspirants. They primarily distribute a pamphlet titled “Gaddarancha Panchamana,” which has a comprehensive list of the “missteps” taken by the ruling government, and urge people to help them spread this message.
“We first met during Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. We walked on foot for ten days. During this time, some of us like-minded individuals came together and formed a group in Pune. Through this, we decided to work for our ideology. We participated in different activities in Pune. While doing this, we realised the importance of actively participating in politics that directly affects our lives. We chose to hit the ground and directly interact with the people. We decided to distribute pamphlets, focusing on important issues faced by the people of Maharashtra,” said Desai.
“We highlight issues such as Maharashtra’s projects being diverted to Gujarat, rising unemployment, inflation, increasing violence against women and polluted politics in Maharashtra. People are responding better than we expected. People are very angry with the current government, and many have shown interest in supporting our cause. Some even took extra pamphlets to distribute, while some decided to participate through social media. Convinced by our points, the auto drivers are also helping us,” he added.
Desai categorically stated that the group is not affiliated with any political party but is driven by a desire for Maharashtra’s progress and cleaner politics. “We are doing this work thinking that it will benefit our future generations,” he concluded.
