The Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) on Wednesday released its second list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra. The list includes a total of 10 seats, including Parbhani, Aurangabad Central, Kalyan West, Sangli, and Hadapsar. Interestingly, all 10 candidates are Muslims.
The Prakash Ambedkar-led party has announced Afroz Mulla as the candidate for the Hadapsar Assembly seat in Pune. According to his X (formerly Twitter) bio, he is the convenor of the Secularist Muslim Front and a state committee member of Vanchit Bahujan Yuva Aaghadi (VBYA). He is a Bombay High Court lawyer by profession and has studied at the University of London and the University of Glasgow.
Recently, Maharashtra Muslim Conference (MMC) National Convener Zubair Memon told The Free Press Journal that he intends to contest from Hadapsar. Zubair claimed that Hadapsar is a Muslim-majority constituency, with 33.4% of its population from the community. He added that it is the only seat in western Maharashtra where a Muslim candidate has a strong chance of winning, solely supported by the votes from the community.
Meanwhile, the NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), both part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), are vying for the Hadapsar seat. NCP (SP) Pune City Chief Prashant Jagtap has begun preparations to contest from here, while Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare has claimed that former Hadapsar MLA Mahadev Babar would be her party’s candidate for the seat.
On the other hand, Chetan Tupe, of the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, is the current MLA from Hadapsar and is likely to secure the ticket again from the Mahayuti.
