With the registration of more than one lakh graduate voters in the district, speculation is rife that the candidate elected to contest the upcoming graduate constituency elections would be from Pune district.

Sharad Butte Patil, who is NCP’s aspiring candidate from Pune district for the graduate constituency election

The elections for the graduate and teacher constituency elections would be held in July. In the past two elections, no candidate from the Pune district contested the graduate constituency election in Pune division. There is hope that this trend will change this time round, with huge numbers of graduates having registered in the district.

The larger number of registered graduates in Pune raises the possibility that a Pune-based candidate will get a ticket to contest the election. The last candidate who contested the election from Pune constituency was BJP’s Prakash Javadekar, who did so 12 years ago.

Pune division is one of the seven graduate constituencies in the state where the elections are held. It comprises the five districts of Pune, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, and Solapur. The candidates are residents of different divisions, who are graduates.