The majestic Shivneri fort is in the backdrop and chrysanthemum flowers are being harvested on a farm in Junnar taluka of Pune for the festive season. Among those filling the boxes with light yellow flowers is 60-year-old Ganesh Papde. He has two concerns. “The young generation in our families does not want to work in fields. Second, we are terrified of leopards all day long. Everytime. Everywhere. My vote will go to someone who promises solutions on these two issues.” Papde’s statements sum up the challenges for the northernmost Assembly constituency of Pune district, Junnar. Nestled amidst Western Ghat mountains, Junnar is home to the historic Shivneri fort, which is the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It is home to the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), one of the largest radio telescope arrays in the world for low frequencies, two famous Ganesh temples of Ozar and Lenyadri among other tourist attractions. The Junnar area is home to a rapidly growing leopard population and has reported a total of eight human deaths in incidents of human-leopard conflict since March this year. Sitting MLA Atul Benke, 45, who is from Ajit Pawar Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is set to contest the election on party ticket once again. While his name is yet to be announced as NCP’s list has not yet been released, he has already received the nomination form from Ajit Pawar, finalising his candidature. Benke has already started preparations for the campaign and is slated to file nomination in the coming two to three days, sources close to him said. The NCP has enjoyed a strong voter base here in Junnar, which falls under the Shirur Lok Sabha constituency. With the split in the party, the Assembly election is expected to witness a battle between the two NCPs led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar. Of these, with Ajit Pawar-led faction finalising Benke, all eyes are on Sharad Pawar to know who he picks as the candidate of the NCP (SP) from Junnar. In the recently contested Lok Sabha polls for Shirur where NCP (SP)’s Amol Kolhe won, the Sharad Pawar-led party was leading in five of the six Assembly constituencies. These five included Junnar. Because of this several leaders from Junnar, including those from other parties, were seen pitching their candidature to Sharad Pawar. However, Satyasheel Sherkar, who is currently in the Congress, is likely to switch to the NCP (SP) and is likely to be the party candidate from Junnar. Benke has the advantage of the legacy of his late father Vallabh Benke, who had close association with the Pawar family and was four-time MLA from Junnar. What can be worrying to Benke is the lead that NCP (SP) took in Junnar in Shirur Lok Sabha constituency. When contacted, Benke laid out his key challenges for Junnar, which he plans to take on. “Satisfactory development has been achieved in infrastructure in the form of roads and bridges and also in irrigation projects. I am proud to say my family played a key role in this. However with a great agriculture potential, there is huge scope for agri-based industries. Because of the presence of a sensitive establishment of GMRT, Junnar has limitations for setting up large-scale industries. And that is why to provide employment opportunities for your generation our focus will be on developing tourism, for which Junnar has huge potential. A Detailed Project Report has been sanctioned which focused on tourism development in Junnar on three prongs — historic, pilgrimage tourism and wildlife tourism.” Benke, however, said that human-leopard conflict remains a key challenge and very sensitive issue. “We have a very high and rapidly growing population of leopards. We have reached a conclusion that the immediate solution is capture and relocation. But then the question remains, where do we relocate them. The solution for this will need participation from all stakeholders.” With a growing leopard population in the Junnar forest area in Pune leading to increased incidents of human-leopard conflict in the region, the state Forest Department has sent a proposal to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to sterilise 36 female and 11 male leopard as a targeted birth control method to bring down the rate of increase of leopard population. In June this year, Pune District Collector had notified over 230 villages from four talukas of Pune district — Junnar, Ambegaon, Shirur and Khed — as prone to disaster due to repeated incidents of human-leopard conflicts in which multiple deaths and several serious injuries were reported. Of the eight human deaths reported in human-leopard conflict since March, five have been children. In a recent post on X, Sherkar warned of widespread agitations over the issue of human-leopard conflict. “Following consistent efforts of MP Amol Kolhe, a proposal to sterilise leopards has been sent to the Centre. That proposal is gathering dust. The ruling party must answer this. If no solution is reached soon, it will result in widespread anger and agitation among the people of Junnar.” Know the constituency * Junnar is the northernmost Assembly constituency of Pune district. Nestled amidst Western Ghat mountains, Junnar is home to the historic Shivneri fort, the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Junnar is also home to the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), and two famous Ganesh temples of Ozar and Lenyadri. * The Junnar area is home to a rapidly growing leopard population and has reported a total of eight human deaths in human-leopard conflicts since March this year, five of which are children. It is home to important irrigation projects, including Yedgaon, Pimpalgaon Joga, Manikdoh, Chilhewadi and Vadaj. It has various adventure attractions, including Naneghat, and home to ancient caves and temples. * Initially, Junnar was a stronghold of the Indian National Congress and later, the Shiv Sena and the NCP strengthened their base. Sitting MLA Atul Benke’s father late Vallabh Benke was elected from here four times, twice in 1980 and twice in 2000s. In 2014, Sharad Sonabane won the seat on Maharashtra Navnirman ticket. He shifted to Shiv Sena in 2019 to contest against Atul Benke.
