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This is an archive article published on January 31, 2023

Chinchwad bypoll: BJP hints at Shankar Jagtap’s candidature as Devendra Fadnavis meets him

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met the Jagtap family last week. After the death of Laxman Jagtap, the names of his wife Ashwini and younger brother Shankar Jagtap have been doing the rounds as probable candidates.

Shankar Jagtap denied the rumours that Fadnavis enquired with him about elections. (File Photo/Twitter/Shankar Jagtap)Shankar Jagtap denied the rumours that Fadnavis enquired with him about elections. (File Photo/Twitter/Shankar Jagtap)
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Chinchwad bypoll: BJP hints at Shankar Jagtap’s candidature as Devendra Fadnavis meets him
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Even as the BJP has continued its suspense on its candidate for Chinchwad assembly seat in Maharashtra’s Pune district for the bypoll to be held on February 26, Shankar Jagtap, brother of deceased BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap, has hinted that he would one of the aspirants for the seat.

Shankar Jagtap’s name is being widely speculated in BJP circles after Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave a surprise visit to his residence last week. Shankar also met top BJP leaders in party headquarters in Mumbai two days ago, said BJP leaders close to him.

“I will abide by whatever decision the party takes. I have been in politics for 30 years now. As a party worker currently, we are preparing for the ensuing election,” Shankar Jagtap told The Indian Express when asked if he was one of the aspirants for the seat.

Shankar also denied the rumours that Fadnavis enquired with him about elections.

“The Deputy Chief Minister had come during the funeral. But after that, he could not make it. He said he wanted to meet the family and condole my brother’s death,” Shankar Jagtap said. Fadnavis had apparently rushed straight from Delhi to Pimple Gurav in Pimpri-Chinchwad where the Jagtap family lives.

What transpired during the meeting between Fadnavis and Shankar has been kept a closely guarded secret. Shankar himself has denied that he and Fadnavis discussed politics or the ensuing bypoll.

After the death of Laxman Jagtap, the names of Jagtap family members – his wife Ashwini and younger brother Shankar Jagtap – have been doing the rounds as probable candidates. The Jagtap family was mum on who is the aspirant for the party ticket.

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BJP leaders say they do not have a strong leader in Chinchwad seat. And therefore the party will go with a Jagtap family member. Shankar Jagtap is considered a strong choice as it was he who had been the campaign manager of his brother in all his elections. Shankar Jagtap is also known for his “better connectivity” with the local population and party workers and leaders.

The BJP on its part has been trying to ensure an unopposed election to the seat. The saffron party has been saying that there is a tradition in Maharashtra politics that if a relative of the deceased MLA is fielded from the same seat, then the Opposition parties withdraw their candidates. The BJP has cited the instance of a recent bypoll in Andheri East where it did not field a candidate. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde too has cited Maharashtra’s political tradition.

However, leaders of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have rejected the call. Both Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’s Sanjay Raut have said that they want to contest the Chinchwad seat. The NCP, which has been in alliance with the Congress in the state, has been contesting the seat since 2009 when it came into existence. Shiv Sena which is now part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi has also expressed interest in contesting the seat in view of the last elections performance of its leader Rahul Kalate.

BJP’s Pimpri-Chinchwad president Mahesh Landge said he too was not aware of the likely candidate for Chinchwad seat. “Our party leadership is expected to announce the name this week itself,” Landge said. The last date for filing nomination papers is February 7.

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Laxman Jagtap, the three-time MLA from the Chinchwad constituency, passed away on January 3 necessitating the bypoll to the seat.

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


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