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Journalism of Courage
Ahead of the civic polls in Pimpri-Chinchwad, the Ganesh festival turned a major money spinner for mandals as aspirants came calling in a bid to keep themselves in public limelight lest they find themselves left out. From Rs 11,000 to Rs 1 lakh, mandals received donations from poll aspirants who seemed to have left no stone unturned to keep the mandal workers and those associated with them in good humour.
On Friday, former mayor Yogesh Behl, who is the NCP Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief, and former corporators Shyam Lande and Jiteendra Nanaware went around in Sant Tukaram Nagar-Kasarwadi area. They donated Rs 11,000 to most of the mandals. “In our prabhag (ward), there are 72 mandals. In two to three days, we must have visited all the mandals for ‘Aarti’. At the same time, we also gave Ganpati donations to them. We gave Rs 11,000 to most of the mandals but mandals which are bigger ones were given up to Rs 21,000,” said Lande, who is again eyeing to contest from Sant Tukaram Nagar-Kasarwadi ‘prabhag’.
In the Indrayani Nagar area, former corporator Seema Savale said, “Indrayani Nagar area has several small, medium-sized, and big mandals. We can’t say no to any mandals when it comes to donations. The donations are from Rs 5,000 and upwards.”
In the Wakad-Thergaon area, former corporator Rahul Kalate, who is again a poll aspirant, said, “Since I have also contested two assembly elections, mandals from across the Chinchwad constituency invited me for the Ganesh aarti. I needed to make my presence felt at most of the mandals…”
Kalate said that as far as the donations are concerned, these are voluntary. “But we have to take into consideration the size of mandals and their influence in the area. Depending on the strength and popularity of the mandals, the donations are decided. They can be anything between Rs 11,000 to Rs 50,000 and above,” he said.
Kailas Jadhav, a member of the Dapodi Ganesh Mandal, said, “In Dapodi areas, former corporators gave donations to most of the mandals. The amount of donations depends on the good relations the mandal workers have with the former corporators. It also depends on how that particular area voted in the last elections. Some mandals get bigger donations, some get smaller donations. Our mandal was holding events throughout the year, so we got donations from time to time from three former corporators.”
Avinash Prasad, a karyakarta at Navjeevan Tarun Mandal, Kasarwadi, said, “Three former corporators visited our Ganesh pandal for aarti on Friday. The three donated Rs 33,000 collectively. Last year, we received only Rs 11,000 from one of them. This time, because of the ensuing elections, three of them turned up. We have no issues. We have several expenditures to take care of… The donations have come as a great help.”
Activist Lahu Landge said, unlike last year when the election possibility was dim, this time it has been announced that civic elections will be held after Diwali. “And, therefore, poll aspirants are going around trying to impress mandal workers and their families and friends. This happens every five years. And just before the elections. Then, for four years, the poll aspirants turn their backs on the mandals. The mandals are cashing in, and who can stop them? This is because they give proper receipts for the donations, making them legal. And also, there is no poll code of conduct in place,” he said.
