BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap remained a fighter till the end
In the 2017 election, when the NCP was on a high — claiming that it had implemented several development projects in the industrial city, Jagtap had the odds stacked against him. But he swung them in his favour, helping the BJP win power for the first time in the PCMC.
Jagtap then fought hard for getting the illegal constructions regularised. When things were not happening to his liking, he quit the NCP and shifted to the BJP. (Express Photo)
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If Laxman Jagtap’s name was synonymous with development, he was also known for his fighting spirit in Pimpri-Chinchwad and beyond. His close aides, BJP leaders and workers and even opponents say Jagtap’s style of functioning was “highly inspirational”.
His never-say-die spirit was much on display when he first contested the state council election in 2004 as a rebel NCP candidate. He was pitted against the Congress’ official nominee in the Pune local self-government body poll. An independent candidate in such elections has slim chances of emerging victorious as party councillors, corporators and members are known to vote en masse for the official candidate following the party whip. But when it came to Jagtap, he showed he not only won the hearts of the elected members but their vote too. He won the election hands down.
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Jagtap then fought hard for getting the illegal constructions regularised. When things were not happening to his liking, he quit the NCP and shifted to the BJP. And days before he died, the government conceded to his demands of scrapping penalty tax and regularising some of the illegal structures.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Guardian Minister Chandrakant Patil paying last respects to BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap who passed away this morning. Jagtap was created with State honours. Express photograph by Rajesh Stephan. 03/01/2023, Pune
In the 2017 election, when the NCP was on a high — claiming that it had implemented several development projects in the industrial city, Jagtap had the odds stacked against him. But he swung them in his favour, helping the BJP win power for the first time in the PCMC.
And in June when every vote mattered for the BJP in the council elections, Jagtap, who was down with a serious ailment and was even unable to walk, still made it to Mumbai to vote in the elections. The BJP emerged triumphant and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis praised Jagtap and BJP MLA Mukta Tilak, who passed away recently. He credited BJP’s victory to both the MLAs. “Nation and party first for me…,” he had told this paper then.
For months, he battled cancer and was not ready to give up easily. He sought different medical treatment and at different places, exercised hard and kept himself busy. The only setback he suffered in his political career was when he lost to Shiv Sena candidate Shrirang Barne from Maval Lok Sabha seat in 2014. “I lost in the Modi wave…Not just me, many bigwigs fell by the wayside,” he had said.
Congress leader Babu Nair said, “Jagtap’s death is a big loss for Pimpri-Chinchwad. No one will be able to match his political acumen. He was sort of an invincible leader. The way he brought victory to the BJP in the 2017 PCMC elections was highly admirable. His fighting spirit was visible throughout his career.”
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Sanjay Shendge, a BJP leader, said, “Laxmanbhau inspired confidence in BJP rank and file. His very presence showed that the party can achieve the impossible. The way he spoke and the way he carried the party on his shoulders was seen to be believed. With him around, the party was confident that no challenge can be a bigger one. Because we had someone who will fight hard and bring us victory despite odds.”
Vilas Lande, former mayor and NCP leader, said, “We were close relatives. I knew Laxman from childhood. Right from childhood, he was tenacious, dedicated and hard-working. He never gave up anything easily. If he took up a challenge, he will ensure that he carried it to its logical conclusion.”
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
