Preparations for the
by-poll at Kasba (top) and Chinchwad Assembly constituencies, in Pune on Saturday. Rajesh Stephen
Listen to this article
As Chinchwad votes in by-poll, candidates expect better turnout
x
00:00
1x1.5x1.8x
As the Chinchwad Assembly constituency goes for by-polls on Sunday, candidates are hoping for a better voter turnout this time compared to the previous elections. A bigger turnout, believe candidates, will give them a better margin of victory while a lower turnout will make the battle a closely fought one.
In the 2019 Assembly elections, the Chinchwad seat registered a 53.59 per cent voter turnout, lower than the 56.3 per cent turnout seen in the 2014 Assembly polls.
The Chinchwad seat is witnessing a three-cornered contest. There are 28 candidates in the fray, most of whom are contesting as independents. The fight is primarily between BJP leader Ashwini Jagtap, NCP leader Nana Kate and Independent candidate Rahul Kalate. “The kind of response that we got during our campaign only gives us a feeling that there will be a good turnout on Sunday. Usually, in by-polls, the turnout is low. In general elections, the voter turnout is better as there is an election atmosphere across the state which has an effect everywhere,” Shankar Jagtap, the campaign manager and brother-in-law of Ashwini Jagtap, told The Indian Express on Saturday.
Story continues below this ad
In the 2019 elections, Laxman Jagtap won by a margin of 38,000 votes. “If there is a bigger or even slightly improved turnout, we are expecting a good margin of votes for us compared to our rivals. A lower turnout will lead to a tighter finish. We are hoping that voters from high-rise residential societies will turn out in big numbers,” said BJP candidate Ashwini Jagtap.
Preparations for the by-poll at Kasba (top) and Chinchwad Assembly constituencies, in Pune on Saturday. Pavan Khengre
Independent candidate Rahul Kalate said,”I am expecting that the turnout will improve. People will come out to vote for different reasons. There is a sense of disappointment and anger among people against the state government and the Centre. Locally too, the voters have become disenchanted because they don’t have the basic amenities they were looking for despite being honest-tax paying citizens. I am sure they will express their anger through ballot boxes.”
“The atmosphere during campaigning was positive. People eagerly came out of their houses to see the campaigning and interact with the candidates. And therefore, I feel that the voter turnout will
be better this time. If the turnout increases, I am expecting a good lead for myself over others. In case of the turnout dips, it will be a close finish,” said Kalate.
Story continues below this ad
Kalate said in the areas of Wakad, Poonawale, Ravet and Thergaon, he expects a large turnout. “These are my strongholds. I have worked in
these areas for years. If voters here show enthusiasm, then it will be decisively in my favour,” he said.
NCP candidate Nana Kate’s strongholds are Pimple Saudagar, Rahatni and Kalewadi areas. “These areas have always registered a high turnout and I am expecting it will not be different this time too,” he said.
Pimpri-Chinchwad NCP chief Ajit Gavahane said, “Candidates campaigned hard and were able to reach out to voters. And that is one reason voting percentage might improve…”.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
3 min read
Preparations for the by-poll at Kasba (top) and Chinchwad Assembly constituencies, in Pune on Saturday. Pavan Khengre
