Pune: If the Bharatiya Janata Party is banking heavily on turncoats from Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and other parties to win the day for them, the Shiv Sena is trying to project itself as ‘a party with a difference’ by retaining its loyal cadres and allocating tickets to politically inexperienced persons ahead of the crucial polls to the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations.
An environmentalist, an ophthalmologist and some engineers form part of the Sena’s candidate list in a novel attempt to win the hearts and minds of Pune’s ‘smart citizens’.
“After a point, one realises that a change has to be effected by staying in the system and actively participating in polity. While I interacted with leaders from various parties and put forth my ideas, I found the members in the Sena most receptive and encouraging,” Dr. Sachin Punekar, a noted city-based botanist, tells The Hindu while explaining his decision to join the Sena.
A similar sentiment about bringing about a change in society is shared by Pranjali Thargude, an ophthalmologist by profession, who too has been given a ticket by the Sena.
‘Governance, not politics’
’Dr. Punekar, armed with two decades of experience in his field of research, besides gracing various environmental committees, is contesting from ward number 29 from the city’s Parvati area.
An erstwhile senior scientist with the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), he subtly remarks he is entering “governance, and not politics”.
“I was greatly attracted by the party’s civic concerns, like its initiative to preserve Pune’s bio-diversity stretches,” says Dr. Punekar.
The BJP, by importing NCP defectors and even criminals in its bid to supplant the NCP, has morally compromised itself, claimed senior Sena leader Shyam Deshpande.
The Sena, which does not have much of a presence in the PMC and the PCMC, is focusing on retaining control of the wards in the Kothrud and Hadapsar Aassembly segments — both of which it had lost to the BJP in the 2014 Assembly election.
To this end, it has given tickets to most of its experienced candidates like Mr. Deshpande and sitting corporator Neeta Manjalkar.
Exodus to BJP
However, most political players in Pune have their backs to the wall in the upcoming polls. A common problem facing them is the massive exodus of their senior brass into the BJP.
To stem this, ticket allocation has often taken bizarre, comic turns. Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which faces political obliteration in Pune, has fielded no less five than couples for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
The MNS had performed creditably in the PMC in 2012, emerging as the second-largest party. However, since its comprehensive rout in the 2014 Assembly election, the party’s strength has severely whittled down. Its woes have been aggravated by the exit of influential MNS leaders like Prakash Dhore and Ravindra Dhangekar.
In a bid to stanch their attrition, the MNS has now given tickets to wives of their senior leaders as well.
Relying on veterans
The NCP and Congress, meanwhile, are relying on their remaining veterans to meet the BJP’s challenge.
Top in the NCP list who have been given tickets are present mayor Prashant Jagtap, along with former mayors Vaishali Bankar, Dattatreya Dhankawde and Chanchala Korde.
The party, which has been coping with a massive erosion of its top leaders in Pune since 2014, has also fielded Mr. Jagtap’s mother, Ratnaprabha.
Amid a string of setbacks, the NCP had some relief after former MLA Anna Bansode, who had quit the party, returned back like a prodigal son on Monday. Sources say that senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar persuaded Mr. Bansode, who will now apparently spearhead the NCP’s poll campaign in Pimpri.
