Battle lines drawn for Pune LS seat

Updated on: 26 March,2009 08:54 AM IST |
Chandran Iyer |

The stage for the battle for the Pune Lok Sabha seat is set.

The stage for the battle for the Pune Lok Sabha seat is set. The contest is between Congress candidate Suresh Kalmadi, BJP candidate Anil Shirole, BSP candidate DS Kulkarni, Ranjit Shirole from the MNS and People's Guardian Party candidate Arun Bhatia.

On Saturday, NCP President Sharad Pawar will meet Congress activists at the Congress Bhavan to chalk out the campaign plan for Kalmadi, and to discuss a Congress-NCP joint rally.

While Congress leaders like former state minister Balasaheb Shivarkar, MLC Mohan Joshi, and party spokesman Anant Gadgil has staked their claims to the seat, it was sitting MP Suresh Kalmadi who finally got the ticket.

While the BJP is banking on the charisma of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi who addressed a massive rally in the city recently, the Congress expects to win on the development plank.

Joshi, who was one of the main contenders for the ticket, admitted that he considered himself a deserving candidate before Kalmadi was given the ticket.
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"Now that the candidate is finalised, we will all work in the interest of the party. I am a loyalist and it is my duty to do what Soniaji feels is right," he said.

The situation was similar in the BJP camp where, after a prolonged tussle, the party gave the ticket to Anil Shirole.

Others in the race included BJP corporator Vikas Mathkari, former MP Anna Joshi and former MLA Vishwas Gangurde.

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