Jolt for BJP in One Seat, Solace in Another

The Bharatiya Janata Party received a jolt of sorts as it lost one of its seats in legislature to rival Congress even as it barely managed to retain another one. The party faced the music in the just concluded by-poll counting for which took place on Thursday (March 2). 

Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar emerged winner in the Kasba Assembly seat in Pune city which is considered a BJP bastion. Dhangekar, tipped to win the seat in a fierce contest, was declared winner after 20 rounds of counting. The by-poll in the Kasba Peth and Chinchwad constituencies was occasioned due to the demise of Mukta Tilak and Lakshman Jagtap, both of BJP. 

BJP had fielded Heman Rasane against Dhangekar, both of whom were members of Pune Municipal Corporation. Rasane's choise had triggered a wave of discussion in the populace and reportedly led to the dissatisfaction among a lot of BJP workers. There was even talk of discontent along caste lines.

Kasba Peth, the centrer of Pune city, is looked upon as the citadel of Brahmins. Both Girish Bapat, who represented Kasba Peth five times in legislature and once in parliament, as well as Mukta Tilak were Brahmins. Rasane is not. So when his annoucement as the candidate, it was logical for the talk of injustice to Brahmins to crop up. It indeed cropped up but did not get as mileage as the BJP's opposition parties wished. 

What actually turned against Rasane was his disconnect with the voters and his upmanship. Dhangekar stood in full contrast to him. He was accessible, he was helpful and he was fighting. He was also reinforced by might of three parties – Congress, which he joined a few years ago; Nationalist Congress Party, with which Congress has an alliance and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, which is considerably weakened but still is a force to reckon with.  

In another poll, BJP candidate Ashwini Jagtap won the Chinchwad seat, held by her husband Lakshman, with a lead of over 36,000 votes. She defeated her nearest rival Nana Kate of NCP while Independent candidate Rahul Kalate trailed far behind.

The Kasba Peth and Chinchwad assembly went to polls on February 26 with an average turnout recorded of around 50 per cent. This was the first election after the formation of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and BJP government in the State in place of the Uddhav Thackeray government.