The battle for the Pune Lok Sabha seat is getting more intriguing by the day. While Congress has fielded Kasba MLA Ravindra Dhangekar, BJP has chosen former mayor Murlidhar Mohol. Several leaders from both parties were eyeing the ticket for this seat.
Congress' Mohan Joshi has declared his support for Ravindra Dhangekar and also shared the reason for choosing him for the seat in an interview with The Free Press Journal.
Murlidhar Mohol was selected by the BJP over other contenders such as the party’s former city unit chief Jagdish Mulik and RSS functionary Sunil Deodhar.
It was evident that BJP's Jagdish Mulik is upset over the party choosing Mohol over him. Although other contenders like Sunil Deodhar tweeted for Mohol, Mulik had just expressed his commitment to serving the people without mentioning Mohol's name in the post on X after BJP declared Mohol's name.
"I will always be at the service of the people. I am forever grateful to see the love shown to me by the people and the workers despite not having any position. It is my responsibility to maintain the love and trust of the public with transparent, clean work which I will carry out with utmost devotion. Once again, I sincerely thank all the people and workers, officials," he had added.
While Deodhar had congratulated Mohol on his nomination, stating, "Heartiest congratulations to Murlidhar Mohol for getting Pune Lok Sabha nomination. I will continue to actively support you.
Both Mulik and Deodhar had been actively preparing for the polls, participating in various events and organizing campaigns. However, despite their efforts, they were denied tickets by BJP, which opted for Mohol instead.
Mulik meets Fadnavis
On March 21, Jagdish Mulik, accompanied by his brother Yogesh Mulik, met with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Following the meeting, Mulik began campaigning for Mohol. He organized a meeting of BJP's women's wing in his constituency, where he pledged his support for Mohol and urged them to work tirelessly to ensure Mohol's victory by a significant margin in Pune.
Meanwhile, in Congress, the party's decision to nominate Kasba MLA Ravindra Dhangekar for the Pune Lok Sabha seat has caused discontent among senior leaders, including former deputy mayor Aba Bagul.
