Know Your Panel

Area Profile and Political Background

This panel has been carved out by merging three electoral wards the entire Sutarwadi ward,about 40 per cent part of Pashan ward and a small portion of Rajbhavan ward. All three wards are currently represented by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporators – Rohini Chimte,Pramod Nimhan and Usha Jadhav respectively. The residents of the panel feel that the NCP corporators have failed to deliver good civic service to the citizens. The Shiv sena too displayed its strength in the 2009 assembly polls by getting Chandrakant Mokate elected from Kothrud assembly segment that includes the area in Panel 10. Mokate had defeated NCP candidate Anna Joshi in the assembly polls. The area also has influence of Congress legislator from Shivajinagar assembly segment. Nimhan,contested on Congress ticket after quitting Shiv Sena,defeated BJP candidate Vikas Matkari. The residents of the area had to go through suffering during monsoon as they witnessed flooding in parts of the area. The civic administration had to take extra care to ensure that there is no inconvenience to citizens of the area.

The condition of main roads is not bad but the connecting roads in entire area are in very bad conditions. The area has thick green cover but there is not a single public garden or a playground. The work for development of Pashan lake into a bird watching centre is also pending since long. Pashant corporator Pramod Nimhan said,“A lot of road expansion work of many roads is yet start as the land acquisition for the same has not been done. Another important problem is that of drinking water. The crematorium in Pashan needs an electric crematorium facility and the proposal for the same is pending for long.” Nimhan added,“Some repair work at Pashan lake is also urgently required.”

Area Profile and Political Background

Saffron power dominates this panel with Shiv Sena looking at a clear win with the new panel markings. The panel is a conglomeration of four wards which are mainly dominated by Sena members. The four wards – Ward no 121,122,140 and 137 form this area extends from NIBM to even Gokulnagar and Gangadham road.

Shiv Sena corporator Tanaji Lonkar whose 60 per cent of ward falls in the panel is hopeful of contesting in the general category seat while Ranjana Tilekar from BJP might look at contesting from OBC women category. “We will await the party’s final decision,”said Lonkar.

Ward no 122 has Medha Babar while Deepali Oswal from Sena is from ward no 137. The area is mainly MLA Mahadeo Babar’s area and the Sena is looking at keeping the panel to themselves. The area with both cosmopolitan societies as well as slum areas spread across from NIBM to Konarakpuram has issues of poor water supply and bad roads and poorly maintained drainage system which the corporators have been repeatedly addressing.This panel falls in the Hadapsar assembly constituency which is headed by Shiv Sena MLA Babar and the parliamentary constituency is headed by MP from Sena Shivajiadhalrao Patil. “This should be a an easy win for Sena with the corporators from our party dominating the area,”said a Sena member.

Area Profile and Political Background

This panel includes Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium electoral ward,about 70 percent of Ideal Colony ward and 10-15 percent of Kothrud gaothan -all of which are strongholds of the saffron parties -BJP and Shiv Sena. The Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium ward is currently represented by Shiv Sena corporator Prithviraj Sutar,Ideal Colony by BJP’s Murlidhar Mohol and Kothrud gaothan by Shiv Sena’s Chandrakant Mokate.

The area around this panel has seen the domination of saffron parties since as early as the 1970s and the corporators are confident that the domination will continue despite the new reservations. “One of the two reservations is for other backward class and both Prithviraj Sutar and I can contest in this category. While only one of us stand a chance in this panel,I am ready to go with party high command,” said Mohol who is serving his second term as corporator.

The other reservation is for open category (women). Earlier,the area has seen the representation of Shiva Sena’s Neela Kadam and Rasika Sutar,wife of former minister Shashikant Sutar and BJP’s Kalpana Munde in the 1990s. Since none of them fall in open category (women),the panel will find some new candidatures and representation in the upcoming elections.

Even as Kothrud has the reputation of fastest developed suburb in Asia,the area is riddled in issues like traffic congestion,encroachments and sometimes erratic power supply. “Traffic is in mess during peak hours. It takes about 15 minutes to travel a distance of one kilometres on Karve Road in the evening. Swelling traffic makes it difficult to even commute through the narrow bylanes of Ideal colony and Mayur colony,” said Prasad Dhole,a banker.