With speculation rife over who the Bharatiya Janata Party would field from the Pune Lok Sabha constituency to contest the upcoming general elections, this paper has learnt that Prakash Javadekar is the party’s strongest contender.

MP Prakash Javadekar

Eknath Khadse, state parliamentary board member and leader of opposition in the state assembly, told mid-day that Javadekar, Rajya Sabha MP and party’s national spokesperson, features at the top of a list which has two other viable names.

Khadse added that other names, such as those of BJP city chief Anil Shirole and party MLA Girish Bapat would also be tabled before the national parliamentary board for its consideration.

Yesterday, the BJP’s state parliamentary board conducted a meeting, which was presided over by the party’s state convener Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

According to Khadse, all the three names would be given to the national parliamentary board, but special emphasis would be given to Javadekar.

The national board would take the final call on March 16, but sources said it is also likely to favour Javadekar over the other contenders.