Pune Bypoll Result: Eknath Shinde Hits Back At Sharad Pawar, Says 'He Is Ignoring...'

New Delhi: A day after Sharad Pawar said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) losing its bastion of Kasba Peth in Pune city to the Congress in the recently-held Assembly bypoll indicated that "winds of change were blowing across the country", Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday (March 5, 2023) said the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief is conveniently "ignoring" the poll outcome in three North-eastern states. 

"Pawar is selectively looking at the poll results. He is ignoring the outcome of three states from North East region but is talking only about the Kasba Peth assembly segment," Shinde said.

"I hope Pawar won't doubt EVMs after the Kasba result," he added.

The BJP on Thursday failed to retain the Kasba Peth Assembly seat -- its stronghold for nearly three decades -- as Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar defeated the saffron party nominee Hemant Rasane in a keenly contested bypoll, which had become a prestige battle between the ruling coalition and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). 

The saffron camp has represented Kasba Peth in the state Assembly for the last 28 years. 

Girish Bapat, the current BJP Lok Sabha MP from Pune, had won the prestigious seat five times till 2019. 

The BJP, however, retained Tripura in the recently-held Assembly elections and will continue to be a ruling alliance partner in Nagaland. 

In Meghalaya, the BJP has supported the National People's Party (NPP) of Conrad Sangma to form a government.

It is noteworthy that in Maharashtra, the saffron party shares power with the Eknath Shinde faction, recently recognised as 'Shiv Sena' by the Election Commission.