Who will lead Pune BJP in civic polls? Murlidhar Mohol or Chandrakant Patil?
Pune: It is being discussed who would lead the city BJP in the impending civic elections after getting a landslide victory in the State Assembly elections. Will it be Murlidhar Mohol or Chandrakant Patil? It is said that one of them would lead the party and the competition for the leadership is likely to intensify.
The BJP received a setback in the Lok Sabha elections. However, the party almost got the majority in the State polls. Its candidates won from Kasba Peth, Kothrud, Parvati, Shivajinagar, Khadakwasla and Cantonment seats. Local office-bearers and workers are confident now that they would easily win the civic elections. The party has started preparing for them. There is ambiguity if the BJP would go it alone or form an alliance with its state allies. Now, people are curious to know who would lead the party in the civic polls.
The BJP had a historic win in the civic election held in February 2017. It won 100 seats. The local elections have been delayed by two years. The party faces a challenge to retain power in the city. It is observed that if a party is in power in the State and in the civic body, the party MP leads in the civic elections. Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi did it single-handedly in the past.
MP Girish Bapat led the city BJP after the party formed the governments at the Centre and in the State. It was a point of discussion after the election of Chandrakant Patil from Kothrud that there was a cold war between Bapat and Patil for the city’s leadership. Patil was made the District Guardian Minister during the Fadnavis-Shinde rule. However, Ajit Pawar took charge after he joined the Maha Yuti. Patil’s influence waned.
Later, Murlidhar Mohol was elected the city’s MP and got a minister’s post at the Centre. Moreover, he was given the charge of western Maharashtra for the State Assembly elections. He is seen as a close aide of CM Devendra Fadnavis. Therefore, he is a strong contender to lead the party in the civic elections.
On the other hand, Chandrakant Patil was elected with a huge margin from Kothrud. He appears to have been looking into initiatives in the city of late. Thus, he has sent a message that he is ready to lead the city.
Fadnavis’s role is important
The then CM Devendra Fadnavis used to show interest in issues faced by Pune when the party ruled the civic body. He expedited many projects. Though Chandrakant Patil was the Guardian Minister, Fadnavis held the reins of the city. Therefore, his role in deciding the leader of the city will be important. It will be interesting to see who he chooses, Patil or Mohol.
