Pune: Following Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray's announcement of contesting the upcoming assembly elections independently, political activities in Pune have ramped up. MNS city president Sainath Babar has asserted his claim over the Hadapsar assembly constituency.
With the departure of Vasant More from MNS, the party is gearing up to introduce a new candidate in Hadapsar. Sainath Babar has signaled his readiness by updating his WhatsApp status.
Disputes with Vasant More
Former close allies Sainath Babar and Vasant More experienced a fallout. Before the Lok Sabha elections, Sharmila Thackeray, Raj Thackeray's wife, commented on Babar's potential departure, implying it would be beneficial for the party.
Both Babar and More sought the Pune Lok Sabha candidacy, lobbying the party leadership. However, when MNS decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections, More left the party and contested the Pune Lok Sabha seat under the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi banner, later joining Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena after an unsuccessful bid.
Following Raj Thackeray's removal of More from the Pune city president position, Babar was appointed, causing More to feel betrayed by his former friend.
Multi-Party Contest in Hadapsar
As Sainath Babar prepares to contest the Hadapsar assembly seat, the prospect of a tug-of-war is diminished due to MNS's independent stance.
However, the allocation of this constituency among Maha Vikas Aghadi parties will be crucial, as many have their eyes on it. Consequently, a multi-party contest in Hadapsar seems inevitable.
Prashant Jagtap from NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), Chetan Tupe from NCP, Vasant More from Shiv Sena (UBT) have already expressed their interest to contest from Hadapsar constituency.
