This is an archive article published on May 11, 2024
‘No Modi wave will work this time, voters are sore with the sitting Maval MP,’ says Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjog Waghere
Waghmere, the NCP leader who joined Sena UBT a few months before polls, in an interview with The Indian Express, says there is ''no Modi wave'' in Maval.
Sanjog Waghere has been fielded by the Sena UBT from Maval Lok Sabha constituency. (Photo: Special arrangement)
SANJOG Waghere, former mayor Pimpri-Chinchwad, who Sena UBT has fielded from Maval Lok Sabha constituency, is taking on Shrirang Barne of Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Wagheres and Barnes, who are known as sons of the soil, have relatives spread across Pimpri-Chinchwad and Maval, whose loyalties are divided between the two. Waghere, former NCP leader who joined Sena a few months before polls, in an interview with MANOJ MORE, says there is ”no Modi wave” in Maval. He says voters are upset with the sitting MP which gives him an edge over his rival. Excerpts:
In the last two elections, Shrirang Barne won by a massive margin. How are you rating your chances against him in this election?
In the past two elections, there was ”Modi wave” which served Barne. In 2014, Barne contested his first election, and won without any development work to show. All because of the Modi wave which persisted in the next 2019 elections. But now, there is no ‘Modi wave’. The PM and BJP are struggling to woo voters and campaigning hard for every seat.
It is because the ‘Modi wave’ has waned that you have an edge?
Not just that, but also because the sitting MP has been found wanting in the last five years. He did little to develop Maval which had huge tourism potential. The Maval area also had ample space for industrial units to be set up. On both counts, he came a cropper. In fact, Foxconn, which was setting up shop in Maval, went to Gujarat and the sitting MP failed to do anything about it. We hardly even heard him raise his voice against it. He remained silent even as youths remained jobless. If a multinational company had come up in Maval, lakhs of youth would have got jobs.
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So you are saying people are unhappy with the sitting MP who has been renominated?
Of course. There is widespread resentment not just among Maval voters but also among his own alliance partners.
Are the alliance partners of Sena still unhappy, and are they on your side?
The kind of statement that Sunil Shelke, who is an MLA from Ajit Pawar-led NCP, made against Barne exposed the internal rift. His own alliance partners and their leaders and workers are unhappy with him. But there is no such thing in our Maha Vikas Aghadi. We are united.
NCP MLA Sunil Shelkhe, whose party is in alliance with Shinde-led Sena, had asked Barne to show one development project implemented under him. This was before he was nominated. It is being said that you failed to capitalise on this statement.
It is wrong to say so. We have been highlighting how Barne failed to push for development of Maval despite getting a second opportunity. Not just elected representatives, but people across Maval constituency are saying the same thing.
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But Barne has listed the top 30 development projects he brought to the constituency?
Most projects, like say the Metro, which claims credit for, were initiated under Congress-NCP government. Similarly, he is claiming that electricity was provided for the first time to tribal hamlets. Then what did he do during his first five years? Because he failed to do anything in his first term, he did a little work in the next tenure so he has something to show. Moreover, he is claiming he initiated road projects in Maval. These works are part of the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana being implemented across the country. Why is he not speaking about the real issues?
What are those crucial issues in Maval ?
Has the Red Zone issue been resolved? Barne should show what he did in the last 10 years ? Has the issue of illegal construction been resolved? What about the closed pipeline issue pending for 14 years? Pimpri-Chinchwad gets water every alternate day, what has he done to regulate supply? There are so many problems he failed to address in his five-year term.
It is being said that Dy CM Ajit Pawar is behind you being nominated so you can defeat Barne, who had defeated his son?
That’s not true. I have been fielded by Sena (UBT). I want to defeat Barne because he has done little for Maval.
But Barne says he has no competition and he doesn’t know who his rival candidate is.
He will know on June 4. At that time, he will be watching the celebration of my victory on TV. Let him say what he wants. It doesn’t take much for those with large egos to crash down to earth. Wait a few days. Barne will know who is the MP of Maval.
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Have you been able to cover the Raigad part of Maval?
Not only have I covered Panvel, Karjat and Uran constituencies, but I have also taken stock of their problems which have remained unresolved in last five years. Besides these three Assembly constituencies, I am getting a good response in Maval, Chinchwad and Pimpri Assembly constituencies as well. I expect to win by a margin of 3.5 lakh votes. Note my words.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
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