Mid-day spoke to candidates and representatives from Congress, BJP, MNS and AAP to get a sense of what they will dofor the average Punekar if they are elected today
Voters
With the much-awaited Lok Sabha election results out today, Punekars have a reason to rejoice as all the major party candidates in the fray are firm on fulfilling their promises made to the citizens in their city-specific manifestoes.
Deepak Paigude, MNS.
>> Promises better city-Centre relations
>> Macro-level regional planning
>> Improved public transport
>> Central government funds
Right from getting an IIT and IIM to the city to constructing new playgrounds, from new lakes to the super-fast Metro, candidates and representatives told mid-day yesterday that they intend to deliver. Punekars will be watching.
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Subhash Ware, AAP
>> Strengthened PMPML bus network
>> Improved public health system
>> Better govt-run schools
>> Strong representation in Parliament
Transparency focus
Unlike the typical tall claims, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Subhash Ware said that he will focus on fulfillment of basic needs and ensure transparency in the day-to-day business of the city. “Rather than making only big announcements through pre-poll manifestoes, I will ensure the existing public transport system is enhanced by strengthening the network of PMPML buses. Along with public transport, my focus will also be on the public health system and on bringing about a qualitative change in government-run hospitals and schools,” said Ware. “In the past, Pune had a tradition of strongly putting city questions in Parliament, which has stopped now. I will reintroduce this tradition by participating in debates and raising solution-driven questions in the House,” he added.
>> Kadam, Congress
>> IIT and IIM in the city
>> 100 new playgrounds for children
>> Metro, monorail and free bus service for citizens
>> 12 new small lakes
Confident
As most exit polls have already declared that Narendra Modi will be Prime Minister, the BJP city unit is confident about their candidate Anil Shirole’s win.“We will win in Pune by a margin of at least one lakh votes,” claimed Medha Kulkarni, BJP State Secretary. “The city has a huge backlog of issues. The BJP MP will focus on the city’s planned development as it has expanded like a cancer so far. The attention will be on efficient public transport, clean rivers, adequate water supply to every resident, implementation of the city development plan and ensuring appropriate usage of reserved government land,” Kulkarni said.
Anil Shirole, BJP
>> Planned development
>> Efficient public transport
>> Adequate water supply
>> Appropriate use of reserved government land
Manifesto supreme
The Congress party, which had released its city manifesto just four days before Pune went to polls on April 17, has made many tall claims and Congress City President Abhay Chhajed said if their candidate Vishwajeet Kadam wins, all the promises will be fulfilled. The manifesto had stated that, if elected, Kadam would bring both an IIT and an IIM to the city, start 100 new playgrounds for children, construct 12 new small lakes, start a Metro rail service as well as a monorail and provide free bus service for citizens. While Kadam was unavailable for comment, Chhajed assured mid-day that the Congress candidate would fulfill each and every promise that was part of the 31-page manifesto.
They’ll be watching: Voters from the city, who had come out in large numbers, will hold the candidates to their promises
Dark horse
While predictions are that the fight will be between the Congress and the BJP in Pune, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is hoping that its city candidate Deepak Paigude will emerge as the dark horse. “As Pune has emerged as a metro city, macro-level regional planning of both Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad is the need of the hour. The first priority of the MNS MP for the city will be to focus on improving poor public transport by bringing in funds from the central government,” Anil Shidore, MNS State General Secretary, told mid-day.
From the first day of the election campaign MNS Chief Raj Thackeray has remained firm on his stand that MNS MPs from Maharashtra will extend their support to BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi. Hence, the MNS is positive that Pune will get Modi and the Centre’s full attention if Paigude wins in Pune and NDA comes to power. “In the past, Modi had argued with the Centre on the bitter relations between the Centre and states. Hence, I have no doubt that if Modi becomes the new PM and the MNS wins in the city, it will surely give a push to Pune’s development,” Shidore claimed.
Counting procedure
>> Voting shall start at 8 am
>> Postal Votes will be counted first followed by the votes on EVMs
>> Each round is expected to take 25 minutes
>> Approximately 8 hours needed to finish the counting of votes
Counting day arrangements:
1,350
Total staff including counting officers, supervisors and observers
1,500
Police personnel that will control the movement of party workers and visitors
7,000
Number of EVMs used in the polling process
84
Tables at every counting booth
4
Officials at every table who will monitor the counting process
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