Discussing the political prospects of the BJP, Dheeraj Ghate, the party's Pune city president, expressed confidence on Thursday that they will secure victories in all assembly segments and regain control of the Pune Municipal Corporation.
"The current MLA of Congress in Kasba is temporary and BJP will avenge the defeat of Kasba bypoll and the common worker of BJP will not stop before that. We will also win the Lok Sabha Pune seat and the workers are very enthusiastic for the polls," he added.
He was speaking a day after Maharashtra State Congress President Nana Patole voiced confidence on Wednesday and said, "We're certain about winning the Pune Lok Sabha seat this time, much like our success in the Kasba Assembly bypoll."
It should be noted that BJP in March failed to retain the Kasba Peth Assembly seat, its stronghold in Pune district for nearly three decades, as Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar defeated the saffron party nominee Hemant Rasane in a keenly contested bypoll, which had become a prestige battle between the ruling coalition and the Opposition MVA.
BJP represented Kasba Peth for last 28 years
The BJP has represented Kasba Peth in the state Assembly for the last 28 years. Girish Bapat won the prestigious seat five times till 2019. Dhangekar polled 73,194 votes, while Rasane received 62,244 votes.
In 2019, BJP leader Mukta Tilak had won the seat. She died after battling cancer in December 2022, which necessitated the by-election in the constituency, located in the old area of Pune city. The bypoll was held on February 26.
There was a perception that since the BJP did not give poll ticket to a family member of late MLA Mukta Tilak, Brahmin voters, who have a sizable presence in the constituency, were unhappy with the party. But, the BJP had claimed Brahmins were with them.
