Pune: After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announcement of fielding City Mayor Mukta Tilak in Kasba Peth constituency, the Congress has given the ticket to Congress leader in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and senior corporator Arvind Shinde. So, there will be a contest between two senior corporators in Kasba Peth constituency.
From 2009 to 2014, the Congress fielded Rohit Tilak from Kasba Peth. However, he dropped out from the race after allegation of rape cropped up against him.
Ravindra Dhangekar, former Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader who joined the Congress in 2017, was interested in the Kasba Peth constituency. In 2014, he contested the Assembly elections on the MNS ticket and was second runner-up. But this time, the Congress selected Shinde.
After 25 years, Kasba Peth got a new face to contest on behalf of the BJP. Till date, BJP senior leader Girish Bapat was representing Kasba Peth. Now, he has been elected Pune MP.
Bahirat in Shivajinagar
In Shivajinagar, Congress is fielding former corporator Dattatreya Bahirat, who will contest against former MP Anil Shirole’s son Siddharth from BJP. The Congress denied the ticket to former MLA Dipti Chaudhari and Manish Anand, who was former vice president of the Khadki Cantonment Board.
