3 BJP candidates to contest as independents for PCMC polls

When contacted, BJP’s Pimpri-Chinchwad president Shratrughan Kate said, ”We have also learnt that three of our candidates will have to contest as independents. All this happened because of our discussions with Shiv Sena for seat-sharing. The discussions got delayed. By the time we distributed the AB forms, it seems the candidate could not reach their respective offices on time. We will now see what to do in this case.”

The three BJP candidates are Shalini Gujar, Ganesh Gujar and Karishma Barne.

Sources in the election office said the nominations of two Shiv Sena candidates was also rejected as they had not submitted names of proposers. However, there was no official confirmation till late evening.

The BJP and Shiv Sena, who held several rounds of talks, could not reach an agreement on a couple of seats, which led to delay in taking decisions regarding their alliance. The BJP and Sena then decided to go solo in the PCMC polls.

Meanwhile, there were rumours that BJP candidate Ravi Landge has been elected unopposed for the second time as all his opponents had withdrawn from the race. However, election officials said they are awaiting a report from the assistant returning officer looking after Bhosari area.