From traditional bastion of Kasba to stronghold of Kothrud: How Pune BJP’s power centre has silently moved in recent years

Bapat had handed over the guardian minister’s post to Chandrakant Patil from Kolhapur, paving the way for the senior BJP leader into Pune politics.

The seeds of BJP shifting its political power centre was sown after Patil was given a ticket from Kothrud assembly in place of then sitting BJP MLA Medha Kulkarni, who launched an open protest against this move. Patil also went on to chair the post of Guardian minister when BJP regained power by joining hands with Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. However, the post was given to Ajit Pawar after he joined the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra.

It was Bapat’s illness that led BJP to shift its power centre in Pune from Kasba to Kothrud. Later last year, the BJP failed to retain its bastion of the Kasba assembly seat in the bypoll, which was necessitated after the death of sitting BJP MLA and former mayor Mukta Tilak.

The death of sitting BJP MP Bapat soon after created a void in the city, mainly in Kasba area, and the BJP allegedly avoided taking the risk and influenced the Election Commission to not hold byelection for Pune Lok Sabha seat, despite more than a year remaining for the end of the five-year term. The high court later pulled up the election commission for the same.

Congress spokesperson Ramesh Iyer said, “The BJP power centre has been slowly shifting from Kasba to Kothrud and it is reflecting in the votes the party received from Kothrud in the past Lok Sabha elections. It is mainly because the traditional voters of BJP have shifted to Kothrud from Kasba. Recent Kasba bypoll has also given enough indications, which might have led the party to shift its office to Kothrud.”

The BJP recently shifted its city office to a new location in the Kothrud assembly area .The party recently got Medha Kulkarni from Kothrud elected to the Rajya Sabha. Now, it is being contemplated that BJP would give a party ticket to Murlidhar Mohol, who is from Kothrud area, to contest the Pune Lok Sabha seat.

Mohol was also the mayor of Pune and used the opportunity to spread his networking across the city. He also managed to establish good relations with senior party leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Amit Shah by inviting them as chief guests for various functions.

“There is no shifting of power from Kasba to Kothrud. The city unit was in search of an office space for long and found a better and larger space, which happened to be in an area falling under the Kothrud assembly,” said a source in the BJP.

Posters against Mohol cropped up in the city on Thursday, stating, “The party made you chairperson of the standing committee, then the mayor. General secretary of state unit and now MP as well? Enough. Will work to defeat you.” The posters were removed later on.