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Journalism of Courage
The industrial heartland of Pune, Khed Alandi Assembly constituency has made news for one reason or the other. As veteran politician Dilip Mohite Patil goes all out to defend his seat, bad roads and the exodus of industries are issues his rivals are hoping will give them an edge.
NCP’s Mohite Patil had sided with Ajit Pawar when he parted ways with his uncle. But during the Loksabha elections, Dr Amol Kolhe, NCP (SP) MP, managed to get a comfortable lead in Khed Alandi–despite Patil assuring NCP’s Shivjirao Adhalrao Patil of winning. Back then, Kolhe and other leaders had said they would go all out to win Khed Alandi in Assembly elections.
Atul Deshmukh, who had joined NCP from BJP is a strong contender for candidature while Sudhir Mungase is another contender from the same party.
Khed Alandi, like most areas of Pune rural, has been an NCP stronghold – and the split in the party had left many wondering about the fate of the party. The split saw several leaders side with Ajit Pawar, but on the ground, both factions claimed the cadre was with them.
During Loksabha elections, Khed Alandi had voted in NCP (SP), but Mohite Patil claims the scenario will switch for Assembly polls. His detractors, however, have called out the fact that basic infrastructure in the industrial heartland has gone south.
Last month, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh had claimed that around 50 industrial units had left Chakan. Industrial associations have said that a lack of link roads and perennial traffic jams have caused many industries to either leave Chakan or defer their expansion plans in view of infrastructure woes. The state government had, however, denied any news of industries leaving the region.
Mohite Patil, however, contends that this election he will sail through thanks to his outreach and previous stints. To his credit, Mohite Patil has extensive connections on the ground across the area which has seen him through in previous elections. In 2014, Patil had lost to Sena’s Suresh Gore, whose family remains loyal to Uddhav Thackeray’s faction, and can thus add to trouble for Patil. Atul Deshmukh has his own network, and his leaving BJP can also affect Patil. Deshmukh has cited lack of development and growing criminalisation of the industrial area as signs of failure of the sitting MLA. With elections around the corner, Khed Alandi’s political future rests on the development or the lack of it there on.
