While Congress is yet to name its candidate for the crucial Pune Lok Sabha constituency, the city unit of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in the throes of internal divisions.
Last week, the BJP high command’s surprising decision to drop sitting MP Anil Shirole and opt for Pune’s Guardian Minister Girish Bapat came as a surprise.
In his first reaction after being dropped, Mr. Shirole said he was ‘not hurt’ by the party high command’s decision. The sitting MP was among the first to meet Mr. Bapat and wish him good luck.
“I have been a loyal party soldier and will continue to remain so. The party has given me a lot in the past 27 years and there is no question of me being upset if someone else is given a chance,” Mr. Shirole said.
Mr. Shirole’s largesse notwithstanding, the decision has provoked resentment among his followers and those of BJP MP Sanjay Kakade, himself an aspirant to the Pune seat.
Mr. Kakade had announced he was joining the Congress. However, he was mollified by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and remains with the party.
On Wednesday, Mr. Bapat, a sitting MLA from the city’s Kasba Peth area, visited Mr. Kakade to secure his support. However, observers say that despite assurances, it remains to be seen whether followers of Mr. Kakade and Mr. Shirole would campaign wholeheartedly for Mr. Bapat or will choose to remain passive.
Mr. Bapat’s first rally in the city on Tuesday got a lukewarm response, with many in the audience exiting the venue before the Minister could even begin his speech. But according to political observers, the dice is loaded heavily in favour of Mr. Bapat – and the BJP – in Pune.
“Whatever the problems within the BJP in Pune, Mr. Bapat can take heart from the fact that the Congress is in utter disarray in the city, divided by raging factionalism. With the party yet to choose its candidate for Pune, precious campaigning time is being lost. Much of the little time that will remain for the Congress candidate, will be expended in mollifying other aspirants and urging the NCP workers to support him,” said an analyst.
Senior Congress leader Mohan Joshi, Maratha community leader Pravin Gaikwad and the Congress city unit chief Arvind Shinde are believed to be among the frontrunners for the ticket.
However, the Congress high command is divided over whether to field a Brahmin candidate or one from the Maratha community to combat Mr. Bapat, himself a Brahmin.
“Mr. Joshi has the support of all castes and communities. He also has the experience of contesting a Lok Sabha election in the past (1999) and has been instrumental in the Congress’s growth in Pune,” said a supporter of Mr. Joshi, remarking that the rank-and-file worker would never accept an outsider like Mr. Gaikwad.
On the other hand, Mr. Shinde’s supporters feel that the party has given short shrift to the Maratha community in Pune for a long time and they could unite to give a stiff fight to Mr. Bapat if a Maratha candidate was fielded.
According to a senior party leader, Pune, with its formidable Brahmin electorate, has often witnessed a fight between Brahmin candidates fielded by both the Congress and the opposing party in the past.
Veteran leader V.N. Gadgil won thrice – 1980, 1984 and 1989. In 1980, Mr. Gadgil beat Nanasaheb Gore of the Janata Party, and Jagannath Joshi and Anna Joshi (both BJP) in 1984 and 1989 respectively. Mr. Anna Joshi wrested the seat from Congress in 1991.
From then on, changing demographics and caste and community patterns have seen non-Brahmin leaders winning from Pune.
Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi, a non-Brahmin, and the mainstay of the party for a long time in Pune, wrested the seat back from BJP in 1996 only to lose to BJP’s Pradeep Rawat in 1999 and winning it back in 2004.
As Mr. Kalmadi faded into political oblivion, the Congress propped up Vishwajeet Kadam, a Maratha, and an ‘outsider’ in Pune city politics against Mr. Shirole in 2014. In one of the Congress’s worst performances, Mr. Shirole defeated Mr. Kadam by a margin of over three lakh votes.
