BJP wants party to work harder, take revenge for Kasba defeat

He also said leaders who join from other parties will not be given tickets, instead, deserving party workers will be made poll candidates.

Bawankule said, “The Kasba bypoll was important and many were tracking it across the state. I was frequently asked about the political situation in the constituency during the byelection. We lost the bypoll in Kasba,” he said, adding, “Nobody was responsible for it (defeat in polls).”

Bawankule also said that speculations about Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar joining hands with the BJP are incorrect. “These (rumours) are spread by the Maha Vikas Aghadi to defame Pawar,” he said, adding that the BJP is not in talks with Ajit Pawar.

In a message to the cadre, the state BJP chief said the party must start working for the upcoming civic body, Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. “We have to put in our best efforts to ensure the success of the party in elections and work in a way to take revenge for the defeat (in Kasba),” Bawankule said.

Last month, in a major setback to the party, Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar defeated the BJP’s Hemant Rasane by over 10,000 votes in a closely-fought contest in the BJP bastion of Kasba.

On the byelection for the Pune Lok Sabha seat, necessitated by the death of sitting MP Girish Bapat, the state BJP chief said there is no announcement yet. “The BJP is not thinking of it as of now and aspirants of all political parties should avoid displaying their eagerness by putting up advertisement boards as future MPs,” he said.

The BJP had won 100 seats in the Pune Municipal Corporation election in 2017 and now the aim should be to get 140 seats, Bawankule said, adding, “This time poll tickets will be given to only deserving party workers and not those who jumped from other parties. It is the ideology of the party that matters, not a person. The selection will be based on public preference and not on any leader’s recommendation.”

The state BJP chief said the party should regain its past pride in the city by registering a grand victory in all the elections. In 2014, the BJP had won all the eight assembly seats in Pune city and the Pune Lok Sabha seat, followed by a grand victory in the PMC election in 2017, which was a first for the party in the civic body, and in 2019 it won six Assembly seats and the Pune Lok Sabha seat.

The BJP will contest all the elections in the state in alliance with Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Bawankule said. “The party workers should make efforts to see Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister of the state,” he added.

Also Read

Ola, Uber autos to go off Pune roads? Transport authority rejects ricksha...

Power cut in these areas of Pune today, know when supply will resume

PMC extends deadline to pay property taxes without penalty to June end

Eid ul-Fitr: Check out the traffic diversions in Pune on Saturday

On the induction of Swati Mohol, wife of gangster Sharad Mohol, in the BJP, Bawankule said he is not aware of the details of the person inducted into the party. “We are not considering the past but the future of those who are joining the party. Anyone who wants to work for the country, believes in the ideology of the BJP and is ready to work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the country the best in the world is not refused entry into the party,” Bawankule said.