Shiv Sena or BJP? Chinchwad NCP MLA Anna Bansode says ‘none’ day after CM visits his office

Bansode said he had received a call from the Chief Minister’s Office that he would be visiting him while on a visit to Pimpri-Chinchwad. Asked whether the Chief Minister had given him an offer to join the party, Bansode said, “No, there was no such discussion during the short meeting.”

Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Barne too denied that the party is trying to rope in Bansode. “No, we are not pursuing the NCP MLA and have not made him any offer to join our party,” Barne said.

For sometime now, speculations have been doing the rounds that Bansode would join either the BJP or the Shiv Sena. NCP sources said though Bansode is close to party leader Ajit Pawar, there is widespread resentment against him in the party.

“Many corporators are upset with Bansode’s style of functioning. They don’t want him to be fielded again from the Pimpri reserved constituency. Hardly any development work has been carried out in the constituency during the last four years,” an NCP leader said.

Bansode was elected from Pimpri in the 2017 election. When Ajit Pawar had taken oath along with Devendra Fadnavis in November 2019, Bansode was among the few MLAs who were with him at that time.

Since then, Bansode has been known to be close to Pawar. The two assembly constituencies of Bhosari and Chinchwad which flank the Pimpri seat have seen rapid development. However, NCP leaders said the Pimpri seat has been limping when it comes to development which has come as a rude shock to the voters.

NCP Pimpri-Chinchwad president Ajit Gavahane said, “There is no need to give a political angle to the meeting between the CM and the MLA. The CM said he would visit Bansode’s office as it was on the way to Nigdi and kept his word.”

Gavahane also denied that some NCP leaders were upset with Bansode for not pushing the development of Pimpri constituency. “I don’t think there is any resentment against Bansode. If there is, then I will take up the matter with our leader Ajit Pawar,” he said.

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BJP Pimpri-Chinchwad president Mahesh Landge said, “I was present when the Chief Minister met Bansode. But I am not aware what transpired between the two.” Asked whether the BJP has made Bansode an offer to join the party, Landge said, “I don’t think we have made any offer to him. Such decisions are taken at a higher level.”