With Shiv Sena declaring its candidate for the Kothrud assembly seat, the fight will now be between two Chandrakants: BJP's current MLA, Chandrakant Patil, and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Chandrakant Mokate. With all major parties announcing their candidates, the picture is becoming clearer in almost all constituencies in Pune.
In the 2019 assembly polls, Chandrakant Patil was given the ticket from BJP, sidelining then-incumbent MLA Dr. Medha Kulkarni. To address her dissatisfaction, she has now been appointed as a Rajya Sabha MP from BJP, clearing the way for Patil.
What do the numbers say?
In 2019, Patil won by just 25,495 votes against Kishor Shinde of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Patil received 1,05,246 votes, while Shinde got 79,751 votes. The vote margin was considered low, as Kothrud is a stronghold of the saffron party, which had given a significant lead to then Pune MP Girish Bapat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
