Vishwajeet Kadam
The exit of Vishwajeet Kadam from city politics has opened up the competition for candidature in the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections.
Kadam, chief of the Youth Congress’ state unit, is contesting the bypoll on Palus-Kedgaon assembly seat that was vacated after the death of his father and senior Congress leader Patangrao Kadam. Vishwajeet Kadam’s entry into city politics was sudden when the Congress gave him a ticket to contest from Pune in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. He was defeated by BJP leader Anil Shirole with a record margin. Local Congress leaders, meanwhile, had not co-operated with Kadam, calling him an “outsider who had scuttled their growth in politics”.
“The local leaders, aspiring to contest from Pune Lok Sabha seat are happy as Kadam is officially out of city politics. It has increased their chances…,” said a Congress leader, requesting anonymity. In 2014, local Congress leaders had opposed Kadam’s candidature, saying the ticket should be given to one of them and not an “outsider”. “All the aspirants have started preparing for the party ticket after Kadam moved to the assembly constituency, which had been represented by his father for a long time,” the leader added.
Congress spokesperson Anant Gadgil, gearing up for the upcoming elections, has been reaching out to residents by distributing pamphlets that highlight his performance as a member of the state Legislative Council. Former chief of the city unit of the Congress, Mohan Joshi, and Abhay Chhajed are also frontrunners for the party ticket. While it would be a first for Chhajed, Joshi had contested the elections in the past.
The frequent public presence of former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in the city has also raised many eyebrows. “Chavan has officially never communicated his interest in contesting Lok Sabha elections from Pune but, lately, he has been attending public functions in the city,” said a Congress leader. Chavan had to contest the assembly elections after the Karad Lok Sabha constituency was merged in Satara and Sangli seat during delimitation.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kakade, an independent supporting the BJP, has also shown interest in contesting the Lok Sabha election from Pune seat. He has been holding meetings with prominent residents and had recently met former city MP Suresh Kalmadi and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale. Kakade is gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections.