MNS Surveys Eight Vidhan Sabha Seats in Pune Ahead of Assembly Elections

Pune, 26th June 2024: The Maharashtratil Navnirman Sena (MNS), which has unconditionally supported the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha, has not yet announced whether it will contest the assembly elections with the Mahayuti or independently. However, in Pune, the MNS has started evaluating all eight Vidhan Sabha seats. The party plans to survey more than 200 seats across Maharashtra for the assembly elections. MNS leader Rajendra alias Babu Wagaskar stated that all eight seats in Pune are included in this survey.

In the 2019 Assembly Elections, the MNS contested five constituencies—Kothrud, Shivajinagar, Cantonment, Hadapsar, and Kasba—without success. The party has assigned a private organization to conduct constituency-wise surveys. The organization has submitted its first report, and the second report is expected next month. After receiving the reports, MNS state office bearers will visit each constituency to meet their local representatives and compile a report on the candidates from other political parties. This will help decide whether the MNS should contest those seats, and the final report will be submitted to the party president.

The MNS is evaluating 21 seats in the Pune district and has begun preparations to contest all eight seats in Pune this year. The party has primarily focused on Kothrud, Kasba, Hadapsar, Wadgaon Sheri, Cantonment, and Khadakwasla constituencies in Pune. In the Parvati assembly constituency, candidate screening is underway, and there is speculation that the MNS may introduce an unexpected candidate who does not belong to any political party. This has led to intense discussions about who the MNS will nominate.