Mumbai: Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Sanjay Kakade, associate Rajya Sabha member of Bharatiya Janata Party announced he would be joining the Congress and would be probable candidate Pune Lok Sabha seat. However, Pravin Gaikwad, former associate with Sambhaji Brigade too expressed his desire to contest Pune LS seat as a Congress candidate. Meanwhile, both these aspirants may face a strong opponent of the old guard of the Pune Congress unit on the ground of imported candidates.
Kakade, a prominent Pune-based realtor was earlier with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) before being elected as an independent candidate in Rajya Sabha. Later he joined the BJP and became an associate member in RS.
He had openly expressed his desire to contest on the Pune LS seat. However, sources within the Pune Congress said that while the BJP leader was welcome to join the party, there was no guarantee that Kakade would be given a ticket. Speculation about Kakade’s exit from the BJP gathered momentum after he met with NCP chief Sharad Pawar in December last year just after the BJP’s poll debacle in five states.
Likewise, he also held parleys with senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar last month in yet another indication of his growing disaffection with the BJP. “Given the changed circumstances in the country, I have decided to join the Congress. If the top leadership gives me a ticket, I will contest the election to the best of my ability.
If not, I will abide by Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s decision and am willing to wholeheartedly perform whatever task is entrusted to me,” said Kakade. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to take final call over candidacy for the Pune seat within a couple of days. Meanwhile, Gaikwad, one of the leaders of the Maratha quota agitation on Sunday said that he wanted to contest Pune LS seat as a Congress candidate.
“The Congress today does not have a voter base of more than three lakh. It needs a candidate with more pull to carry for them,” said Gaikwad. Gaikwad is hoping that the ‘wave’ generated by the Maratha agitation will play in his favour. While NCP chief Pawar has reportedly endorsed Gaikwad’s candidacy, his former outfit, the Sambhaji Brigade has decided to field its own candidate for the Pune seat.
On the other hand, sitting MP Anil Shirole of BJP is also a Maratha face and he has having strong ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). “This makes him more acceptable in Brahmin dominated Pune seat rather than Kakade and Gaikwad,” claimed a BJP leader from Pune.
