Kasba Pimpri Chinchwad bypolls: By 1 pm, the Chinchwad seat registered only 20.28 per cent of voting. However, officials predicted that the pace of voting will pick up in the post-lunch session. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)Pune News Live Updates, February 25, 2023: Going by the figures from the Election Commission (EC), the polling rate in the Chinchwad Assembly bye-election has been virtually crawling since Sunday morning. By 1 pm, the Chinchwad seat registered only 20.28 per cent of voting. However, officials predicted that the pace of voting will pick up in the post-lunch session. Polling was being held in all 510 polling stations across the Chinchwad seat, right from Sangvi to Ravet and Kiwale. Earlier in the day, 11 voting machines developed problems but those were soon sorted out.
As the Chinchwad Assembly constituency goes for by-polls on Sunday, candidates are hoping for a better voter turnout this time compared to the previous elections. A bigger turnout, believe candidates, will give them a better margin of victory while a lower turnout will make the battle a closely fought one. The Chinchwad seat is witnessing a three-cornered contest between BJP leader Ashwini Jagtap, NCP leader Nana Kate and Independent candidate Rahul Kalate as 28 independents are contesting the elections.
While the fight is three-cornered in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kasba will witness a face-off between the state’s ruling and opposition alliances- BJP-Shiv Sena and Maha Vikas Aghadi- ahead of the Lok Sabha elections this year. Kasba has been a BJP bastion for years with the current Lok Sabha MP Girish Bapat winning from the constituency five times. The Congress, the alliance partner of Shiv Sena(UBT) and NCP in MVA is posing a tough challenge by fielding Ravindra Dhangekar as a candidate opposite BJP’s Hemant Rasane.
At Acharya Vinoba Bhave School in Ganj Peth voters turned out in large numbers towards end of the voting day (after 4 pm). The queues had spilled out of the school gate with hundreds of voters standing on the road outside. Leaders of various political parties had reached the voting centre to ensure that their voters are not turned away as the voting closure deadline was approaching. Senior police officials also rushed to the entre centre to avoid any trouble.
Police decided to allow every voters who had queued up before 6 pm by taking them inside the school gate. The actual vasting of votes is likely to go on for at least an hour after the deadline of 6 pm as hundreds of voters entered the centre to cast the vote just before 6 pm. This will also shoot up the overall voting percentage in Kasba Assembly constituency which had seen low voters' turnout in assembly election 2019.
Polling picks up in Kasba as it logged 45.25 per cent votes till 5 pm. Polling will end at 6 pm.
Voting has picked up in most areas in the late afternoon with long queues seen at voting booths.In some voting centres queues became so long (for instance Acharya Vinoba Bhave School, Mahatma Phule Peth, Acharya Vallabh School Ganesh Peth) that on an average a voter was spending 50 min to an hour to cast vote.
"Women and and those working on wages generally turn up to vote in the afternoon. The voting centres were desolate until 3 pm. The voting picked up after that," Imtiaz Saudagar, a resident of Ganesh Peth said. Anil Halwai, who was helping the police manage crowd at Jawahar School in Ganesh Peth, said that sudden rush towards the end of the day was how voters generally cast their votes in the area.
Political workers claimed that the voters' push in the second half may take the voting percentage higher than the percentage in 2019 elections.
Given the constant slide in wholesale prices of onion across mandis in Maharashtra, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) has decided to up its procurement activities in Nashik from Monday, according to a press statement.
Across the country, onion sellers have witnessed a sudden drop in wholesale prices because of increased arrivals. Traders say the price drop is expected to be more acute as the season progresses. Currently, the wholesale price of onion in major mandis of Nashik is around Rs 200-300/quintal. Read More
A clash between two local leaders from rival political groups was reported near a polling booth in Pimple Gurav during the voting for the Chinchwad Assembly constituency Sunday morning.
Police officials deployed at the booth intervened as the situation became tense owing to the presence of a number of supporters of the two leaders. Read More
Express Photo by Pavan Khangre
Voters at Ganesh Peths' Jawahar English Medium Primary School complained of extreme congestion and suffocation as the centre had very narrow allies where the voters were made to queue up. Women and elderly complained of feeling uneasy due to crowding. Express Photo by Pavan Khengre
While the Chinchwad assembly constituency recorded 30.55 per cent voting till 3 pm, the Kasba assembly recorded 30.05 per cent polling till 3 pm.
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Going by the figures from the Election Commission (EC), the polling rate in the Chinchwad Assembly bye-election has been virtually crawling since Sunday morning. By 1 pm, the Chinchwad seat registered only 20.28 per cent of voting. However, officials predicted that the pace of voting will pick up in the post-lunch session. Read More
A polling staff helping a differently abled voter at a polling station in Sangvi, Pune.
A 95-year-old voter at Kalewadi polling station in Pune.
In his address at the national rowing championships in Pune, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande said, "It is heartening to see the standard growing and rising to new heights every year. This is a testament to the coaching as well as the support staff who worked tirelessly to nurture the talent of our rowers. We owe it to our predecessors who conceived the idea of an international rowing channel and the Army Rowing Node way back in 2009. Consequent to that vision and passion today we have a rowing channel which is at par with international courses world over. I don’t think the day is too far when we will be privileged to host an international event. Witnessing the races today, one can see the immense potential and talent that exists within the country. I am confident that we will the tricolour proudly fluttering at the major events that are coming up — the Asiad and the future Olympics and the world championships.”
The finals of the 40th Senior National and 24th Sprint Rowing Championship were held at the Army Rowing Node (ARN) at the College of Military Engineering in Pune on Sunday.
Voting remains slow in Kasba Assembly Constituency, which has gathered immense interest in the state as a popularity contest between Maha Vikas Aghadi and BJP-Sena (Eknath Shinde), with only 18.5 per cent polling happening till 1 pm. The voting closes at 6 pm.
(Express Photo by Pavan Khengre)
It was observed that voter enthusiasm was very low in areas of greater population density such as Nana Peth, Ganj Peth, Raviwar Peth - which are also considered bastions of MVA candidate Ravindra Dhangekar - as opposed to other areas in the constituency such as Sadashiv Peth, Kasba Peth, and Narayan Peth.
Political workers hoped that the voting may pick up post 4 pm.
'There seems to be lack of enthusiasm among the voters as this is a bypoll,' said a Congress worker. 'We are hoping that it will pick up by 4 pm,' he added.
As reported by Loksatta, a resident of London now, Amrita Devkar-Mahajan but originally from Kasba in Pune, travelled to her hometown to cast her vote in the Kasba bypoll elections. After the bypolls were announced she decided to travel to India and reached Mumbai today and travelled to Pune just in time to vote along with her brother, Vikrant Devkar.
18.5 percent voting in Kasba assembly constituency in the first six hours of polling from 7 am to 1 pm. Only four hours left for Voting as allowed till 5 pm.
Three EVMs have malfunctioned during the polling in Pimpri Chinchwad as reported by Loksatta. It was revealed that there was a malfunction in eight voting machines during the 'mock' poll. Chinchwad assembly constituency has a total of five lakh 68 thousand 964 voters. Out of them 59 thousand 437 voters have exercised their right to vote till 11 am as reported by Loksatta.
Some of the big names of Lavani—Shakuntalabai Nagarkar, Pushpa Satarkar, Gauri Jadhav, and Latabai Walikar— took centerstage at The Box theatre in Pune Friday to take audiences on a nuanced journey through the complex layers of the art form that has, in recent years, become the subject of controversy for its sensuous performances. Read more
A clash between two local leaders from rival political groups was reported near a polling booth in Pimple Gurav during the voting for Chinchwad constituency on Sunday morning.
The police deployment at the polling was stepped up after the incident, officials said.
BJP supporter Corporator Sagar Angholkar and Ganesh Jagtap, the supporter of independent candidate Rahul Kalate had a heated exchange and manhandled each other around 100 meters away from the voting booth, a police officer from Sangvi police station said. The incident took place around 10 am.
Senior Inspector Sunil Tonpe of Sangvi Police station said, “Persons from rival political groups had a clash near the polling station over some instantaneous issue. Both sides have come to the police station now and cases are being registered. Meanwhile we have increased police deployment in the area and situation is under control.”
NCP leader Rupali Thombre Patil shared a picture from within the polling booth showing her pressing the button for the Congress's Ravindra Dhangekar, in apparent violation of ballot secrecy.
Polling slows in Kasba constituency as only 8.25 percent voting till 11 am as against 6.5 percent voting in the first two hours of polling till 9 am. Kasba is witnessing a fight between the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena,Hemant Rasane, and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) candidate, Ravindra Dhangekar.
Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya (NMV) voting Center on Bajirao road can be seen in the pictures below. Kasba 6.5 percent voting in Kasba assembly constituency in the first two hours of polli)ng from 7 am to 9 am. Kasba is witnessing a fight between the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena,Hemant Rasane, and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) candidate, Ravindra Dhangekar.
A security deployment comprising over 2,300 Maharashtra police personnel and eight companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) has been made for maintaining law and order and the peaceful conduct of voting for Kasba Peth and Chinchwad by-election.
Kasba Peth has deployment of 1,500 state police personnel and five companies of the CAPFs. For the Chinchwad constituency, 836 state police personnel have been deployed along with three companies of the CAPFs -- one each from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Chinchwad will also see the deployment of two additional Railway Protection Force (RPF) companies and 169 Home Guard personnel. A company has an approximate strength of 120 personnel.
The finals of the 40th Senior National and 24th Sprint Rowing Championship are scheduled to take place today at the Army Rowing Node (ARN) at the College of Military Engineering in Pune. General Manoj Pande, Chief of Army Staff is slated to preside over the event. The ARN has got an International standard rowing channel with associated assets. The Championship drew over 450 rowers from 25 State Sports Federations and equivalents.
6.5 percent voting in Kasba assembly constituency in the first two hours of polli)ng from 7 am to 9 am. Kasba is witnessing a fight between the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena,Hemant Rasane, and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) candidate, Ravindra Dhangekar.
S Satyanarayan, General observor, Election Commission of India, inspects a polling station in Pimple Saudagar area around 9.30 am.
Express Photo by Manoj More
'Sakhi' polling booth is seen here below manned by women only, in Chinchwad. In the 2019 Assembly elections, the Chinchwad seat registered a 53.59 per cent voter turnout, lower than the 56.3 per cent turnout seen in the 2014 Assembly polls but candidates are hoping for a better voter turnout this time. In the 2019 elections, Laxman Jagtap won by a margin of 38,000 votes. “If there is a bigger or even slightly improved turnout, we are expecting a good margin of votes for us compared to our rivals. A lower turnout will lead to a tighter finish. We are hoping that voters from high-rise residential societies will turn out in big numbers,” said BJP candidate Ashwini Jagtap.
2,75,674 citizens are set to vote in Kasba bypoll today. Women voters have the largest strength of 1,38,690 and are predicted to play a major role in electing new legislator in the bypoll. This bypoll was necessited due to death of sitting legislator Mukta Tilak. The number of male voters in the constituency is pegged at 1,36,984.
Voting will take place today at 270 polling booths in Kasba. Election Commission is keeping watch in 135 polling booths through Webcasting to avoid any irregularity.
In two hours, 500 vote at Killbill school polling station in Pimple Gurav. As the Chinchwad Assembly constituency goes for by-polls on Sunday, candidates are hoping for a better voter turnout this time compared to the previous elections. A bigger turnout, believe candidates, will give them a better margin of victory while a lower turnout will make the battle a closely fought one. The Chinchwad seat is witnessing a three-cornered contest between BJP leader Ashwini Jagtap, NCP leader Nana Kate and Independent candidate Rahul Kalate as 28 independents are contesting the elections.
The Kasba bypoll has gained prominence in the backdrop of the split in the Shiv Sena ranks following a rebellion led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the subsequent fall of the MVA government headed by Uddhav Thackeray. The Kasba bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting BJP legislator Mukta Tilak, a member of the family of freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak. Though the BJP had sought an unopposed election as a tribute to Mukta Tilak, the MVA refused. The Kasba Assembly has been a BJP bastion for long with Girish Bapat getting elected to the Legislative Assembly on five consecutive occasions. However, with MVA fielding experienced Ravindra Dhangekar, the fight between BJP candidate Hemant Rasane and MVA candidate Ravindra Dhangekar will decide who secures the seat in Kasba.
BJP candidate Ashwini Jagtap cast her vote in Pimpri today. Wife of deceased BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap, Ashwini Jagtap secured candidature over Laxman Jagtap’s brother Shankar, who was also an aspirant. The main contest in the Chinchwad seat is between BJP candidate Ashwini Jagtap, NCP candidate Nana Kate and Independent candidate Rahul Kalate. During campaigning Ashwini Jagtap had tried to strike an emotional chord with the voters. “The Chinchwad constituency was very close to the heart of my husband. The entire constituency was like his family. He rarely bothered about his own family but he spent hours working for the people of this constituency,” she said at every meeting and interaction with voters.
Voting has started in Pimple Saudagar for the Pimpri Chinchwad bypolls today. Pimpri-Chinchwad witnesses a pariticipation of 28 independent candidates but the fight for the seat is battle between BJP leader Ashwini Jagtap, NCP leader Nana Kate and Independent candidate Rahul Kalate.
Pune’s queer community can now look forward to hosting their events or hanging out at Stories-Queer Café, which declared itself as an ‘LGBTQ safe space’ on Saturday. Shyam Konnur, founder of the newly opened queer café on the South Main Road of Koregaon park, said he and his staff are committed to provide a safe space for the community to hold their events or get-togethers. Read More
Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar ended his hunger strike after senior officers from Pune Police met him and other agitators and promised an investigation in the allegations levelled. Express Photo By Pavan Khengre,25.02.23,Pune.
The Congress candidate for the Kasba bypolls, Ravindra Dhangekar, Saturday alleged that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is using money and muscle power to win the polls and sat on a hunger strike a day before the scheduled polling on Sunday. Read More
A day after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis revealed that he was offered the chief minister’s post by the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray during the rebellion by the Eknath Shinde-led faction in June 2022, Sena MP Sanjay Raut said Fadnavis was trying to create “sensationalism” and “confusion” among the people.
During an interview with Zee News, a Maratha news channel, when asked whether Uddhav Thackeray had contacted him, urged him to forget the past and said they were ready to join hands with the BJP, Fadnavis said, “Yes, I was contacted… But I replied that we have moved forward. I was told that whatever has happened has happened, now you become the chief minister. I made it clear that that moment had passed… I am not the one who will betray… Now these people (Shinde rebels) had come with us and we cannot ditch them. When they have rebelled and joined hands with us, we cannot betray them… This cannot be part of our politics. And that is why I refused it…” Read more
In what has turned into a prestige battle between the ruling and Opposition alliances in Maharashtra, the Kasba bypoll has become a platform for the BJP-Shiv Sena and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to show their strength ahead of the general elections next year.
The Congress, the alliance partner of NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT), however, has posed a tough challenge by fielding Ravindra Dhangekar against BJP’s Hemant Rasane. Read more
20 delegates from African countries attended an orientation meeting in Pune on Saturday for planning and conduct of Africa India Field Training Exercise AFINDEX-23 which is slated to take place at Southern Command Foreign Training Node and College of Military Engineering in the city between March 21 and 30. The exercise will focus on Humanitarian Mine Assistance and United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. Read more
Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis visited Pune to campaign on the last te for Kasba BJP candidate, Hemant Rasane, before the Kasba and Pimpri Chinchwad bypolls on February 26. Fadnavis tweeted out more about the work undertaken by BJP in Pune ,'Our government is working to change the face of Pune. Metro, Ring Road, Rivers, Electric Buses, Airport, Redevelopment of Peths, Development of Wadi.. A transformation. We are moving towards creating a modern and international city while preserving the culture and identity of Pune.'
Known for his love for racing horses and fancy cars, the once-flamboyant businessman, Hasan Ali Khan, spent the last six years of life battling multiple illnesses and several cases filed against him by various central agencies including the ED, Central Bureau of Investigation, Income Tax Department and police entities. Khan, who died on Thursday at the age of 71, received no closure, legal or emotional, till his death, said people close to his family. His longtime lawyer Prashant Patil said Khan was in Hyderabad to visit his parents’ grave when he passed away late Thursday night. Read more