Congress rebels, MVA overconfidence cost alliance dearly in Pune
Pune: The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) faced drubbing in all Assembly constituencies, except one, in Pune. The MVA candidates were over-confident after their win in the Lok Sabha elections. Party bickering, disputes within the MVA and a lack of micro-planning for the poll campaign resulted in the defeat.
The contest in the State Assembly polls was mainly between the ruling Maha Yuti and the opposition MVA. The former won seven out of eight seats in the city. The lone MVA winner is from the Vadgaon Sheri segment.
The MVA had many disputes during the seat-sharing. On the contrary, disputes within the Maha Yuti did not become public. Similarly, clashes between two partners over the Chief Ministership, even before their win, were witnessed within the Maha Yuti. Some leaders had to be kept out of the seat-sharing talks after a clash between the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT). The success in the Lok Sabha elections made MVA leaders and workers over-confident.
The Maha Yuti learnt a good lesson from their losses in the Lok Sabha polls. They corrected their mistakes from the Lok Sabha elections. The Maha Yuti successfully refuted the ‘changing of Constitution plank’ by the MVA in the State elections. DyCM Ajit Pawar avoided making controversial statements and criticism of NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar.
The Maha Yuti concentrated on the development plank. They harped on the Ladki Bahin Yojana, 50-pc concession for women during travel by MSRTC buses, free travel for senior citizens in MSRTC buses, power bill waiver for agriculture pumps, etc. RSS swayamsevaks micro-managed the campaign and spread awareness.
Division in votes hits in Hadapsar
There was a tough fight between Maha Yuti’s Chetan Tupe and MVA’s Prashant Jagtap in Hadapsar. Tupe won. The NCP (SP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) fought over the seat, which lasted till the last moment. Thus, workers of the Shiv Sena (UBT) did not work for the MVA candidate. Former MLA Mahadev Babar campaigned for independent candidate Gangadhar Badhe. This led to a division of votes. MNS candidate Sainath Babar also got over 32,000 votes, which added to Jagtap’s woes.
Paid with defeat due to overconfidence
Maha Yuti’s Bhimrao Tapkir won in Khadakwasla. MVA’s Sachin Dodke tasted defeat. Dodke’s supporters raised banners of his victory even before the counting of votes. This indicated their over-confidence. MNS candidate Mayuresh Wanjale garnered over 42,000 votes by eating into Dodke’s votes. MNS votes were decisive in the election. The split in the NCP also proved counter-productive.
Rebellion, bickering contributed to the loss
There was a direct fight between Maha Yuti’s Madhuri Misal and MVA’s Ashwini Kadam in Parvati. Misal had her fourth straight win. Both the alliances faced rebellion in the constituency initially. The Maha Yuti pacified rebels but the MVA could not do so. Congress rebel Aba Bagul’s candidature hit Kadam’s prospects.
Polarisation of voters and bickering in Congress
The Congress had a lead of 15,000 votes in the Cantonment Assembly segment in the Lok Sabha election. The party hoped for a win here. Ramesh Bagwe was the Congress candidate. But his candidature was opposed from within the party, which proved counterproductive for him.
However, the Maha Yuti constituents worked collectively. The RSS planned the campaign and executed it silently. This helped Sunil Kamble. VBA candidate Nilesh Alhat polled over 8,000 votes, which impacted the MVA. The BJP succeeded in polarising voters by sidelining local issues.
No rallies of big leaders
Chandrakant Patil won in Kothrud. There were quarrels in the Shiv Sena (UBT) over the candidature of Chandrakant Mokate. However, Uddhav Thackeray did not visit the constituency for a rally. No other MVA leader turned up either. This put up a poor show in the segment.
Dissent within the Congress
Maha Yuti’s Hemant Rasane won in Kasba Peth. MVA’s Ravindra Dhangekar lost. There were differences of opinion in the Congress about his candidature. Kamal Vyavahare contested as an independent, but it did not have much impact. However, bickering within the Congress and the split in the NCP adversely affected Dhangekar.
Rebellion, lagging behind in the campaign
BJP’s Siddharth Shirole won from Shivajinagar. MVA’s Datta Bahirat was defeated. Manish Anand ate into Bahirat’s votes. Datta Bahirat also fell ill, which put limits to his poll campaign. Shirole’s campaigning was strong.
Communal rhetoric succeeded
The BJP-RSS harped on communal slogans such as ‘Batenge to kitenge’ and ‘Ek hain to safe hain’. DyCM Devendra Fadnavis put fuel to fire by calling it ‘vote jihad’. This polarised votes and the Maha Yuti won.
