Pune: Tupe & Tingre torpedo BJP dream of clean sweep

NCP chief Chetan Tupe, 48, who defeated sitting BJP legislator Yogesh Tilekar in Hadapsar, is the son of former city MP Vithalrao Tupe. The results were a form of sweet revenge for Tupe, who was defeated by Tilekar in the 2014 Assembly polls in a multi-corner fight.

In the 2017 civic polls, Tupe was elected as a corporator in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). His performance as a corporator in the PMC had won him the confidence of the party leadership, which made him the leader of opposition in the civic body. He recently replaced Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan as the city NCP chief. Tupe has been at the forefront of protests against the BJP in the PMC to seek better civic facilities in the city.

The other NCP winner in Pune city, Sunil Tingre, 47, defeated sitting BJP legislator Jagdish Mulik in Vadgaonsheri. Tingre is also a corporator and is serving his second term in the PMC.

He had quit the NCP in 2014, when the party refused to field him as a candidate in the Assembly elections, choosing Bapu Pathare instead. Tingre joined the Shiv Sena and contested against Mulik in Vadgaonsheri, but lost. He returned to the NCP later.

While the NCP fielded Tingre this time, the BJP had tried to weaken the NCP by roping in Pathare and a few former NCP corporators to strengthen its presence in Vadgaonsheri. Its efforts, however, were in vain.