Kasba Peth: A high-stakes showdown as Cong seeks to defend its new bastion amid BJP’s attempt to make a comeback

Pune: When Ravindra Dhangekar pulled down the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) stronghold of Kasba Peth in the March 2023 bypolls, he was catapulted onto the national scene even as it was an election covering mere 2.5 lakh voters with half of them turning up at booths.

More than one and a half years later when Dhangekar, an OBC leader, is mostly likely to go to assembly polls again as the Congress candidate amid his subsequent loss in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the challenge before him is to retain the newly created bastion.

To be sure, within the two alliances, Kasba Peth is most likely to be retained in the seat sharing formula by the Congress in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the BJP from Mahayuti.

Once home to native residents, the Kasba Peth seat is rapidly transforming into a melting pot of communities and cultures with large number of youngsters coming here from different parts of Maharashtra to prepare for civil services exams. It is also the only constituency in Pune to have higher female voters than male.

As the BJP too is also reworking its strategy to regain the lost ground, the upcoming election contest will be crucial for both sides.

If both parties, Congress and BJP, choose Dhangekar and Hemant Rasne as their respective candidates, it will be a repeat of 2023 polls.

Rasne, former PMC standing committee chairman from BJP, had to suffer loss in the bypoll from Dhangekar by a margin of around 11,000 votes. Among the reasons contributed to BJP’s loss was resentment among Brahmins as the party fielded a non-Brahmin candidate despite the fact that elections were necessitated after the demise of Mukta Tilak.

However, the party subsequently carried out some course correction and made another local Brahmin face Medha Kulkarni as Rajya Sabha member.

Instead of being dejected by the loss, Rasne, an OBC, hit the road from the very first day and became part of many events and programmes in the Kasba assembly constituency. His active political life had a positive impact for BJP in the May 2024 Lok Sabha elections with the party nominee Murlidhar Mohol managing to garner 87,565 votes from Kasba as compared to 73,082 to Dhangekar. The BJP candidate managed to get a lead of 14,483 votes in his constituency.

Dhangekar said, “We won the bypolls. The 2024 Lok Sabha election was different as it was Dhangekar vs Modi. The BJP candidates never asked votes in their personal or party name. All elections, namely Lok Sabha, assembly and civic body, carry different equation and strategies. As voters will have the final say, I am confident that they will give me chance.”

Kasba Peth, with its significant Brahmin and OBC voter base, presents both the BJP and the Congress with a unique opportunity. Historically, the BJP has fielded Brahmin candidates either from Kasba Peth or Kothrud assembly segments, but with senior party leader Chandrakant Patil likely to continue from Kothrud, the possibility of BJP considering a Brahmin candidate in Kasba Peth cannot be ruled out.

According to Rasne, his activeness even after the defeat in the bypoll, helped the party in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

“Learning lessons, I have increased the connect with voters through various events and development works. I am sure that the BJP will register victory in the Kasba assembly constituency,” said Rasne.

A senior BJP leader said, “If the party considers Brahmin vote bank as criterion during polls, the party may consider three-four options even senior leader Devendra Fadnavis will choose the nominees.”

For the Congress, its city unit president Arvind Shinde’s name is doing the rounds even as the leader clarified of not keen to contest the polls. Shinde said, “I have decided not to contest the assembly election. I have the responsibility of the entire city and eight assembly constituencies.” Rohit Tilak, a member of freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak’s family, is also keen to contest the polls from this seat that he has lost in the past.