Even as the BJP announced its first list for the upcoming assembly election, a few seats in Pune where it was expected that the party would give tickets to sitting MLAs or former MLAs were not spotted in the list itself.
The party gave tickets to six people, including Siddharth Shirole and Madhuri Misal, but the absence of Cantonment MLA Sunil Kamble and Khadakwasla MLA Bhimrao Tapkir was a big letdown, as their constituencies did not make it to the first list.
Although this does not mean that the party has denied tickets to Kamble and Tapkir, the absence of their assemblies in the first list was surprising.
Bad performance in general election
Sunil Kamble, the Cantonment MLA, is constantly in the news and surrounded by controversies. He was recently accused of assaulting a police officer and an NCP leader at a public event in Pune in the presence of Ajit Pawar.
It should be noted that Kamble won in the 2019 polls with a thin margin of 5,012 votes, while Congress' Ramesh Bagwe lost the seat by securing 47,148 votes. Additionally, in the 2024 general election, his assembly constituency was the only constituency in Pune in which the BJP trailed, and Congress received 13,300 more votes in the Pune Cantonment Assembly segment.
.jpg)
Big names in fray in Khadkwasla
Looking at Khadakwasla, sources say there is internal opposition to Tapkir in the party. Sule has also managed to get more votes than Sunetra in five of the six Assembly segments, including Ajit Pawar’s Baramati Town. However, it was only in the BJP stronghold of Khadakwasla that the NCP (SP) leader trailed by around 21,000 votes.
In Khadakwasla, there are many posters appearing before the Model Code of Conduct, the most prominent of which are those by former Pune mayor Dattatray Dhankawade, currently with Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Others include BJP leaders Deepak Nagapure and Manjusha Nagapure. The name of Rupali Chakankar was also in the news; however, it seems she is out of the race, especially after her second appointment as the chief of the state women's commission. Deepak Nagpure, Dilip Vede Patil, Haridas Charvad, and Prasanna Jagtap in Khadakwasla are also interested in contesting from the area for the party.
The missing constituencies in the list have led to political speculation, including the snubbing of current MLAs and the possibility of giving tickets to allies like Shinde Sena or NCP (AP) or tickets to someone else from the party. Thus, it will be of great interest to know who will get the tickets for these two seats in the Mahayuti from Pune.
