‘Concentrating more on meeting voters in all 3 seats, not on holding rallies by top leaders’: Pimpri-Chinchwad NCP unit president Yogesh Behl

The polling day is fast closing in. At this point of time, how are the three Mahayuti candidates placed?

In two seats, we are facing strong opponents. In one of the seats, we will win one-sided. Ultimately, we will win all the three seats and we have no doubt about it. In Chinchwad seat, because of the work done by late MLA Laxman Jagtap, people will continue to favour the Jagtap family. Voters living in Chinchwad constituency know who carried out the rapid development of their area. Laxman Jagtap had a special place in the hearts of the people and therefore Shankar Jagtap will win hands down.

There seems to be a close contest in Bhosari seat. What’s your take?

It is true that our rival has roped in a few corporators from our side and some of the villages have declared support to the candidate. But our candidate Mahesh Landge is a popular figure across Bhosari constituency. He has carried out massive development of the constituency and has remained at the beck and call of voters. He has tried to address the infrastructure issues of voters in a big way. Before anyone else could start campaigning, he had done so much earlier. Therefore, he has had a good start to his campaigning and has covered much of the area.

However, your party candidate Anna Bansode seems to be trouble in Pimpri as some of your own former corporators had opposed him.

It is true that some of our former corporators and leaders had opposed Bansode. Except for one or two of them, all others are campaigning for him. There are no issues now.

There were allegations from voters that Bansode did not carry out any development work in the last five years in Pimpri seat. Your comment.

The pace of development work might have been affected in Pimpri seat due to Covid and political turmoil. But Bansode has been in touch with voters, trying to address their problems on a one-on-one basis. He has worked hard among slum-dwellers and therefore we are confident he will win Pimpri seat for the third time.

How are you trying to win the hearts of the voters ?

Our main poll plank is development. We had implemented the Metro project, provided additional water to the city from two dams, are implementing Ring Road project… Pimpri-Chinchwad has better roads than other cities, several flyovers have been constructed… It is on the basis of development we are seeking votes. The development happened across Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Traffic issues have aggravated in the last five years. Voters allege that little was done to resolve traffic jams and parking issues in the industrial city. Your comment.

After Metro project was started, numbers of two-wheelers and four wheelers have reduced on our roads. The Ring Road project, once implemented, will ensure that outside vehicles do not enter the city area. Besides, we are also committed to resolve the traffic issue in a major way when we return to power.

How many rallies of big leaders will be held in the three seats ?

We are not emphasising on rallies. Rather we are going directly to the doorstep of voters or interacting with them where ever we meet them. We believe that personal touch to voters will work in our favour. In case of rallies, leaders address our workers not citizens. And therefore we have decided to change our tactics.