With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State chief Chandrakant Patil filing his nomination from the Kothrud constituency in Pune on Thursday amid great fanfare, the stage is set for a direct fight between Mr. Patil, contesting his first Assembly election, and Kishore Shinde of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
While the Raj Thackeray-led MNS might seem a negligible political force in the polls, Mr. Patil faces considerable opposition from local residents, who consider him an ‘outsider’ from Kolhapur, as well as discord within his own party ranks. Disgruntlement among Pune’s Shiv Sena leaders is also a hurdle.
Mr. Shinde, said to be popular among locals owing to his past work as an MNS corporator, is seeking to capitalise on the discord against Mr. Patil. “I am already Pune’s legislator in a sense of having being elected as an MLC from the Pune Graduates’ constituency… I know every nook and cranny of Kothrud, and it is not as if I have entered Pune for the first time,” Mr. Patil said during his road show on Thursday.
When asked why he chose not to fight from Kolhapur, he said: “While I was not keen on contesting the polls, it was the Centre [BJP high command] which directed me to contest from Kothrud, and I am merely following their orders.”
Mr. Patil, said to be close to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, expressed confidence that he would win the Kothrud seat by a margin of more than a lakh votes, while the BJP-Sena alliance would bag more than 220 seats.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has hurled jibes at Mr. Patil, BJP State chief had yet to win a direct election. Mr. Patil responded, “I never make my decision based on what Mr. Pawar says.”
Before filing his nomination, Mr. Patil met Sena’s Chandrakant Mokate to ensure that the latter campaigned wholeheartedly for the BJP in Kothrud.
With the BJP not sparing a single seat for the Sena in Pune, Mr. Mokate, a former MLA from Kothrud who also served as the city’s deputy mayor, had received encouragement from opposition parties and his supporters to contest against Mr. Patil. This would have entailed him quitting the Sena.
After the ‘truce’ meeting with the BJP candidate, Mr. Mokate said, “The residents of Kothrud were eager that I contest the polls. There were such overtures from opposition parties as well. However, there was no question of any rebellion on my part and I have decided to abide by the Mahayuti’s coalition dharma.” He promising to extend his full support to ensure Mr. Patil’s victory.
The BJP had dropped MLA Medha Kulkarni to vacate the Kothrud seat, considered a safe constituency for the BJP, for Mr. Patil. According to sources, Mr. Patil hesitated to contest from an Assmebly segment in Kolhapur as the results of his surveys were not promising.
“The public of Kolhapur and Sangli have seen Mr. Patil’s and the BJP’s apathetic response during the floods. Likewise, his handling of the devastation caused by excess rain in Pune was similarly deplorable. The Kothrud contest will certainly not be a cakewalk,” a city-based Congress leader said. The Congress and NCP have not fielded a candidate in the constituency yet.
Mr. Patil has made efforts to soothe frayed egos within his party, namely that of Ms. Kulkarni and others like Murlidhar Mohol.
According to senior political analyst Rajendra Pandharpure, while Mr. Patil has the leverage of the BJP’s poll machinery, Mr. Shinde is a known presence with a formidable base in the Paud Road area.
“Moreover, Raj Thackeray, who will be campaigning hard for Mr. Shinde, will certainly be a crowd-puller. Mr. Patil would be heavily dependent on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to see him through as he lacks a strong mass connect,” Mr. Pandharpure said. He said while the BJP State chief may emerge victorious, he will certainly face a tough fight.
