The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidate for the Pune Lok Sabha seat, Murlidhar Mohol, will file his nomination papers tomorrow. Before filing the nomination, there will be a massive roadshow from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Smarak in Kothrud to the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Smarak in Deccan at 9:30am.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Higher & Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, BJP's State Chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, and many other Mahayuti leaders will attend the roadshow. Following the roadshow, these leaders will address a gathering in Deccan. Mohol will then go to the district collector’s office to submit his papers.
The BJP aims to achieve a hat-trick in Pune. In the 2019 elections, the late Girish Bapat of the BJP emerged victorious, defeating Congress' Mohan Joshi. In 2014, BJP's Anil Shirole won, defeating Vishwajeet Kadam of the Congress. Before that, Congress' Suresh Kalmadi represented the Pune Lok Sabha seat, winning consecutively in 2004 and 2009.
Meanwhile, this time, the Pune Lok Sabha race has become a four-cornered contest. Along with Mohol from the BJP, the Congress has nominated Kasba MLA Ravindra Dhangekar, while former Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) corporators Vasant More and Anis Sundke have been nominated from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) respectively.
