2 weeks Ago
Pune: Pune Cantonment assembly constituency was once known as a Congress stronghold until 2014 when BJP, riding on a Narendra Modi wave, dislodged it and managed to retain the seat five years later. This time, Congress is looking to wrest it from BJP and hoping to repeat its performance in the Lok Sabha poll held earlier this year. This was the only assembly segment among eight in the city where the grand old party had received more votes than BJP.
Among the issues that affect citizens is the pathetic condition of roads. Those who take Pune-Solapur road just after Napier road and travel up to Dhobi Ghat near Golibar Maidan struggle to navigate potholes. What adds to their frustration is a 500-metre stretch that frequently sees traffic jams.
Residents blame the lack of proper coordination between the Pune Cantonment Board and the public works department for the poor upkeep of roads. Tausif Shaikh, an auto driver, said, "If materials like murum are used to fill potholes, the quality of roads takes a hit. They become accident-prone and dangerous as pebbles get scattered on the road, causing two-wheelers to skid.
" "The vehicular movement is slow at the Cantonment Board junction. It is a very crucial patch in the eastern areas of the city. Special attention must be given to deal with this problem," Santosh Mahajan, a daily commuter, said.
The constituency houses many key defence establishments, including the defence estate office, southern command headquarters, and defence accounts, along with residences of senior defence officials. Poor water supply is another issue and residents point to Pune Cantonment Board's poor coordination with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for this. The constituency, which is very close to peth areas, has many old wadas.
Their redevelopment is stuck due to issues related to building permissions. Congress has named former minister of state Ramesh Bagwe as its candidate who will contest from this seat for the fourth time. Bagwe won the assembly poll in 2009, but lost to the BJP candidates in 2014 and 2019.
A former leader of the house in PMC, Bagwe has also worked as president of Congress's city unit. Eying a hat-trick, BJP has fielded sitting MLA Sunil Kamble again this time. A former PMC corporator, Kamble was first elected to the assembly in 2019.
Since the 1960s, Pune Cantonment has had a sizable population of pro-Congress voters. Among party stalwarts who won from this constituency were Krishnarao Girme Shivajirao Dhere and Chandrakant Shivarkar..
