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Journalism of Courage
Hurt by its defeat in its bastion of Kasba Assembly constituency during the recently held by-poll, state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday urged party leaders and workers to work hard for the coming elections to take revenge for the defeat in Kasba while assuring that the candidature for election will be given to BJP workers and not to those who jumped into the party by leaving their party.
“The Kasba bypoll was important and many were tracking it across the state. I was frequently asked about the political situation in the constituency during the by-election. We lost the bypoll in Kasba,” he said, adding no person was responsible for it. Bawankule also said that speculations over NCP’s Ajit Pawar joining hands with the BJP were incorrect. “These are done to defame Pawar and it is done by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the alliance of NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT),” he said, adding that the BJP was not in talks with Ajit Pawar.
In a message to party workers, the state BJP chief said the party has to start working for the coming elections of civic body, Lok Sabha and Assembly. “We have to put in efforts to ensure the success of the party in elections and work in a way to take revenge for the defeat,” Bawankule said. Last month, in a major setback to the party, Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar defeated BJP’s Hemant Rasane by over 10,000 votes in a closely-fought contest in the BJP bastion of Kasba.
On the byelection for Pune Lok Sabha seat due to the death of sitting MP Girish Bapat, the state BJP chief said that there is no announcement yet, so there was no need to talk over it. “The BJP is not thinking of it as of now and aspirants of all political parties should avoid displaying their eagerness by putting up advertisement boards as future MP,” he said.
The BJP had won 100 seats in Pune Municipal Corporation election in 2017 and now the aim should be to get 140 elected to the civic body, Bawankule said, adding, “It will not be accepted now to give party candidature to one who jumped from other political parties during election. It is the ideology of the party that matters, not a person. Our deserving party worker will be preferred for candidature instead of any relative of the party leader. The selection will be from the preference of the public and not on the recommendation of any leader.”
The state BJP chief said the party should regain its past pride in the city by registering grand victory in all elections. In 2104, the BJP had won all eight assembly seats and Pune Lok Sabha seat while in 2019 it won six assembly seats and the Pune Lok Seat while registering a grand victory in the PMC election in 2017 and coming to power for the first time in the civic body. BJP is going to contest all elections in the state in alliance with Shiv Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde.
