Pimpri-Chinchwad: A shocking incident occurred in the wee hours of Monday, where a group allegedly entered the house of a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) woman candidate by force. The group hurled abuses and vandalised multiple things in the house in the Pimpri Gaon area. Pimpri-Chinchwad Police have registered a case against eight people, while one has been detained. Police have confirmed the group was intoxicated.
The incident happened around 12:15 am on Monday. It is being said that the accused group were connected to a rival woman candidate from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ward No. 21 (Pimpri Gaon, Jijamata Hospital). Both candidates are up against each other contesting the C seat, which has been reserved for general women.
Pimpri Police have arrested the accused, who has been identified as Swapnil Waghere. A 33-year-old female doctor lodged the complaint at the Pimpri Police Station.
According to the police, the complainant’s sister-in-law is contesting the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) election on an Ajit Pawar-led NCP ticket. The accused arrived in front of the complainant’s house around midnight on Monday. Swapnil, who was under the influence of alcohol, entered the house and began hurling abuses. He threatened the family, saying, "How dare you field a candidate against us? We will kill you."
Senior Police Inspector Ashok Kadlag, in charge of Pimpri Police Station, said, "A case has been registered against eight people in this matter. Swapnil Waghere has been arrested. He was in an intoxicated state."
According to the FIR registered at Pimpri Police Station, after being forced out of the house, Swapnil attempted to break the entrance gate. He used obscene language against the complainant’s father-in-law and pushed her mother-in-law, causing her to fall and sustain injuries to her head and hand.
The complaint states that the accused and his accomplices also physically assaulted the complainant’s cousin-in-law. The accused threw water jars at neighbouring houses and onto the street and pushed over motorbikes. Brandishing water jars, the accused rushed at the family to attack them while continuing to shout abuses. The complaint states that the accused are supporters and workers of the rival BJP candidate. Pimpri police are currently investigating the matter.
Rohit Pawar Reacts
Local leaders from other parties have reacted to this incident, supporting the NCP candidate. NCP-SP MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed Rohit Pawar, who is active in campaigning for the unified NCP, took to X (formerly Twitter) and demanded strong action in this case.
He tweeted, "This video shows how the BJP resorts to bullying and uses abusive language against mothers and sisters in Pimpri-Chinchwad, simply for standing in opposition. First, women were insulted with comments about bangles, and now it has escalated to direct verbal abuse." Pawar hinted at reportedly demeaning language used against women by BJP MLA Mahesh Landge in one of his speeches.
"We must break this cycle of BJP's bullying, hooliganism, and oppression, and with the strength of the common man, we will break it," added Rohit Pawar.
BJP Candidate's Son Assaults A Man In Pimpri-Chinchwad
Another video from the same ward is circulating on social media where a man named Manish Punjabi can be seen beating an NCP candidate on accusations of him distributing money. Manish Punjabi is the son of BJP candidate Naresh Punjabi from seat D. He is up against former NCP corporator Dabbu Aswani from NCP. Aswani has also alleged that liquor and money are being distributed by his rival to get votes.
Naresh's son Manish is seen in the video beating and abusing a man named Pradeep Jagtap. According to available details, residents of a housing society complained to the local BJP that their votes were being bought with money. After this the incident happened. Pimpri Police officials said that we are looking into the matter.
