Accused of ‘shielding Porsche crash driver’, Sunil Tingre loses in Vadgaon Sheri

Sunil Tingre of the Nationalist Congress Party was involved in the infamous Porsche case earlier this year. He had arrived at the police station where the alleged criminals were taken in the middle of the night and was accused of shielding them.

In 2019, Tingre had won Vadgaon Sheri by beating Jagdish Mulik of the BJP by a margin of 4,975 votes. (File Photo)

NCP(SP)’s Bapu Saheb Pathare beat NCP’s Sunil Tingre by 4,710 votes to win the Vadgaon Sheri assembly seat. This is the only seat won by the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Pune City and Pimpri-Chinchwad, with the BJP-NCP alliance sweeping away all other seats.

“The Porsche case had a huge effect. I feel Tingre lost 50-80% votes because of it. He never used to be in the Vadgaon Sheri area, only after he got the nomination he started coming, while Pathare had made a base in the area as he used to visit often,” said a resident from Chandan Nagar in Vadgaon Sheri on the condition of anonymity.

Tingre was involved in the infamous Porsche case earlier this year when a minor’s car allegedly mowed down two IT engineers. Tingre had arrived at the police station where the alleged criminals were taken in the middle of the night and was accused of shielding them.

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Another Vadgaon Sheri resident said, “When the Porsche case happened, we saw the MLA’s name in the news and he was perceived to be supporting the accused juvenile. That could be the reason he lost as his name was all around. Even though he has done some development work in my area, he has constructed a beautiful garden, this case did him in I think.”

Also Read | ‘I put no pressure on police, opponents trying to defame me’: MLA Sunil Tingre rejects allegations over Pune Porsche crash case

In 2019, Tingre had won Vadgaon Sheri by beating Jagdish Mulik of the BJP by a comparable margin of 4,975 votes. In this election, where the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP alliance showed a phenomenal performance in the state and the city, Tingre’s loss stands out as an exception.

Soham Shah

Soham is a Correspondent with the Indian Express in Pune. A journalism graduate, he was a fact-checker before joining the Express. Soham currently covers education and is also interested in civic issues, health, human rights, and politics. ... Read More

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