This is an archive article published on March 3, 2024
Shinde Sena, Ajit Pawar-led NCP vie for Shirur, Maval seats in Maharashtra
Despite repeated meetings between Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and his deputies Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis, the fate of the Shirur and Maval seats reportedly remains unresolved.
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar
(File)
The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) helmed by Ajit Pawar, which are both part of the BJP-led Mahayuti government, have been locked in a fight to contest the Maval and Shirur Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Both parties have staked claim to the seats and are refusing to back down. Despite repeated meetings between Shinde and his deputies Ajit and Devendra Fadnavis, the fate of the two seats reportedly remains unresolved. “And this exactly is why the BJP national leadership did not announce a single candidate from Maharashtra on Saturday,” a BJP leader said. BJP leaders too have been trying to get their men fielded from the seats.
On Saturday, Maval MLA Sunil Shelke, who belongs to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, once again raised the demand for fielding a party candidate from the Maval parliamentary seat.
Shelke had earlier asked sitting Maval MP Shrirang Barne (Sena) to list the development works he has done in the constituency. On Saturday, he raised the demand again. “I don’t know about the BJP. And I will not hold a brief for the BJP. We had already staked claim to the Maval seat. I have been asking Barne to show what work he has done in the last 10 years…I have already met the CM and Deputy CM and conveyed our demand to them…” he said.
Shelke said the NCP has a strong candidate for Maval. He, however, refused to reveal the name of the candidate. The name of Parth Pawar, son of Ajit Pawar, had earlier been doing the rounds for some time. However, he is likely to remain busy in Baramati where the NCP is looking to field his mother Sunetra Pawar.
On the other hand, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday held a review meeting of office-bearers of the BJP in connection with the Maval Lok Sabha seat. At the meeting, the local BJP leaders aggressively demanded that the party should contest the Maval seat.
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When asked about infighting in the Mahayuti over the Maval seat, Barne refused to comment. “I have no comments to offer till my name is officially declared,” he told The Indian Express on Sunday. Earlier, Barne repeatedly claimed that he had been given the go-ahead by Shinde to contest from Maval. The party has however, reportedly asked him not to make any claims.
Shirur
In Shirur seat too, the NCP and Shiv Sena are locked in a tug-of-war. Former Shiv Sena MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil denied speculations that he will join the NCP which has staked claim to the seat. “There is no truth in this. I am with Shiv Sena. Why should I join the NCP? I will be contesting the seat on a Shiv Sena ticket only,” said Adhalrao Patil, who has practically launched his campaign in the region. He was in the forefront in Vadu Budruk and Tulapur on Saturday where the chief minister and deputy chief ministers performed the bhoomi pujan of the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj memorial.
The Shiv Sena has been arguing that Adhalrao Patil had won the seat for three consecutive times and would have no problem in winning it again. ”The NCP which had won the seat last time is now a house divided. Its strength has reduced drastically in Shirur seat,” said Adhalrao Patil. In the 2019 elections, the Shirur seat was won by Dr Amol Kolhe who now belongs to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders in Pimpri-Chinchwad said Bhosari MLA Mahesh Landge is better placed to win the Shirur Lok Sabha seat. “The popularity of Landge has soared high compared to Adhalrao and Kolhe and therefore Landge would be the ideal candidate,” said BJP leader Kunal Landge. Even NCP leader Vilas Lande has supported Landge.
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.
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