Pune: NCP’s Chetan Tupe Breaks Tradition, Wins Consecutive Term In Hadapsar Assembly Seat
Flat No.5, Shivai Heights, Balewadi Gaon, Near Mahadev Mandir, Balewadi
Pune: The Hadapsar Vidhan Sabha constituency, known for having Pune’s largest voter base, witnessed a significant shift in its electoral history. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP – Ajit Pawar faction) candidate and incumbent MLA Chetan Tupe emerged victorious, defeating NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) candidate Prashant Jagtap by a margin of 7,000 votes.
This marks the first time in recent history that Hadapsar voters have re-elected an incumbent MLA, breaking their tradition of choosing new candidates every election. The closely contested race became a focal point on the day of vote counting, with dramatic turns in later rounds. Tupe maintained a lead from the initial rounds, but Jagtap closed the gap in subsequent rounds, creating intense competition before Tupe finally secured victory.
In the 2019 elections, Tupe had won with 92,326 votes, defeating BJP’s Yogesh Tilekar by a narrow margin of 2,750 votes. This year’s election saw additional complexity due to internal divisions in the NCP, with the Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) allotting the Hadapsar seat to the Sharad Pawar faction.
Candidates like MNS’s city leader Sainath Babar and independent candidate Gangadhar Badhe, a dissident from Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction), further fragmented the vote bank.
Tupe, addressing his victory, expressed heartfelt gratitude to the voters and pledged to accelerate development in Hadapsar. “Words cannot express my thanks to the people of Hadapsar. I am committed to taking the constituency’s development to greater heights,” Tupe said.
Key Statistics:
- Chetan Tupe (NCP-Ajit Pawar): 1,34,810 votes
- Prashant Jagtap (NCP-Sharad Pawar): 1,27,688 votes
Highlights:
- A fiercely contested election with a narrow margin
- Calls for recounting due to close results
- Challenges from rebel candidates like Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) dissidents
- Break in Hadapsar’s tradition of electing a new MLA every term
