Pune bypolls: 3.5 percent voter turnout in Chinchwad, 6.5 percent in Kasba till 9 am

A voter turnout of 3.52 per cent was recorded till 9 am on Sunday in Chinchwad Assembly seat and 6.5 per cent was reported in the Kasba Assembly seat in Maharashtra as voting was underway for byelections in the two constituencies of Pune district, election officials said.

A scuffle erupted outside a polling station in Chinchwad between supporters of Shiv Sena (UBT) rebel candidate Rahul Kalate and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and police intervened to bring the situation under control, according to a senior police official.

"It was a minor clash between the supporters of Kalate and BJP, but police intervened on time," Pimpri Chinchwad's Deputy Commissioner of Police Kakasaheb Dole said.

Why the bypolls are significant?

The byelections are important given the changed political landscape in Maharashtra after the Election Commission recently allotted the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the faction headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Shinde's mutiny in June last year split the Sena and brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) administration, which also included the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Shinde became CM on June 30, 2022 with the BJP's support.

Voting began at 7am

The bypolls in Kasba and Chinchwad were necessitated due to the death of their sitting BJP MLAs Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap. Voting for the bypolls in the two seats began at 7 am on Sunday.

Ravindra Dhangekar, the Congress-MVA candidate from Kasba constituency, was among the early voters and expressed confidence of winning the bypoll.

Byelections were held in Kasba and Chinchwad due to the deaths of their sitting BJP MLAs, Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap. The voting for the two byelections began at 7 a.m. on Sunday.

Ravindra Dhangekar, the Congress-MVA candidate from Kasba, was among the early voters and expressed confidence that he would win the byelection.

"I will win the election by more than 25,000 votes as people of the constituency are behind me," Dhangekar said after casting his vote.

Hemant Rasane, the BJP candidate from Kasba, visited Pune's famous Shrimant Dagadusheth Ganapati temple and sought God's blessings before casting his ballot.

Rasane predicted that he will win the byelection.

Nana Kate of the NCP and Ashwini Jagtap of the BJP both voted in Chinchwad.

Addressing reporters, Ashwini Jagtap stated that just as voters in Chinchwad had faith in her late husband, Legislator Laxman Jagtap, she had faith in the voters in the seat.

BJP candidate from Kasba, Hemant Rasane, went to Pune's famous Shrimant Dagadusheth Ganapati temple and took blessings of God before casting his vote.

Rasane said he would get the blessing of voters in the bypoll.