Pune: BJP Flags Off ‘Booth Chalo Abhiyaan’; Party Workers Unaware of Final Prospective Faces for Lok Sabha
Tikam Shekhawat
Pune, 30th January 2024: In a move signaling the initiation of Lok Sabha election preparations, BJP launched the ‘Booth Chalo Abhiyaan’ at the party level. Dheeraj Ghate, the Pune City Chief, expressed readiness for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Pune during a press conference.
Dheeraj Ghate stated, “Pune district comprises four Lok Sabha constituencies, namely Pune City, Maval, Baramati, and Shirur. While the ‘Gaon Chalo Abhiyan’ is underway at the national level for the rural areas, a similar version called ‘Booth Chalo Abhiyan’ will be effective from February 4th, 2024, to February 11th, 2024, for cities like Pune. The BJP Pune has formed a committee for this campaign, and all party officials, including MPs, MLAs, and Corporators, irrespective of their positions, will actively participate. During this campaign, BJP booth officials across the city will engage the public, scrutinize voter lists, and monitor actions related to various BJP initiatives in the area. The entire process will be overseen by 15 senior BJP team members, focusing on all 2010 booths in the city.”
The BJP City Team aims to secure more than 51% of votes at each booth during the elections.
It is noteworthy that various names have been circulating for the past year as potential candidates. These include BJP City Pune Chief Ghate, Muralidhar Mohal, Jagdish Mulik, Sunil Deodhar, Medha Kulkarni, and Rajesh Pande. However, during the press conference, when Ghate was directly asked about his interest in candidacy, he, with a blushing smile, avoided a verbal response.
Later, Ghate reiterated, “If the party inquires about the aspirants, we will certainly share the details. However, in the BJP, the final decision on candidate selection rests with the Party Central Parliamentary Board and the State President.” When asked about any standard democratic process within the BJP for candidate selection, Ghate avoided giving a direct answer.
