Pune Vidhan Sabha Poll: Out Of 11 Former Corporators Contesting Elections, Only One Becomes MLA
Pune Vidhan Sabha Poll: Out Of 11 Former Corporators Contesting Elections, Only One Becomes MLA
In the recent assembly elections, 11 former corporators from various political parties tried their luck at becoming MLAs. However, only one of them, BJP’s former corporator Hemant Rasne, succeeded, while the dreams of the remaining 10 were shattered after their defeat.
Hemant Rasne, a former standing committee chairman of the BJP, contested from the Kasba Assembly constituency and secured his place as an MLA. The other 10 corporators, including two former mayors and one deputy mayor, faced defeat.
The election saw a face-off between the Mahayuti (comprising BJP, Shiv Sena [Shinde faction], and NCP [Ajit Pawar faction] and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (consisting of Congress, Shiv Sena [Thackeray faction], and NCP [Sharad Pawar faction]). All 11 former corporators, representing these alliances, contested from seven constituencies—six urban and one rural.
Notable candidates included Congress rebel and Pune’s first woman mayor Kamal Vyavahare from Kasba, Congress candidate Datta Bahirat from Shivajinagar, former Khadki Cantonment Board corporator Manish Anand, and MNS leader Sainath Babar from Hadapsar. Additionally, former NCP mayor and Wanowrie corporator Prashant Jagtap (Sharad Pawar faction) and Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) rebel Gangadhar Badhe competed. Other contestants included former NCP standing committee chairperson Ashwini Kadam from Parvati, Congress rebel and former deputy mayor Aba Bagul, MNS leader Kishor Shinde from Kothrud, and NCP candidate Sachin Dodke from Khadakwasla. BJP’s Kiran Dagade Patil, a former corporator, contested independently from Bhor.
Out of all these, only Hemant Rasne managed to win. He had contested the Kasba by-election two years ago but faced a shocking defeat against Congress’s Ravindra Dhangekar. In this election, Rasne redeemed himself by defeating Dhangekar with a margin of over 19,000 votes.
The vote count revealed that none of the other corporators managed to secure significant support. However, some rebels’ actions indirectly worked in favor of the BJP-led alliance, benefiting its overall performance.
