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Pune civic polls: Anna Hazare’s call goes unanswered

Citizen groups fail to draw voters in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

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"Apparently, Anna Hazare’s message of electing clean candidates did not reverberate with the common man, as they did not vote for us,” said RTI activist Vivek Velankar about the debacle of citizens groups that contested the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls.

Encouraged by the massive support to the anti-corruption movement led by social crusader Anna Hazare, activists in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad decided to contest the civic polls under the banners of Pune Nagrik Sanghatana (PNS) and Pimpri Chinchwad Nagrik Hakka Sangathana (PCNHS).

Even Maruti Bhapkar, the lone independent corporator from PCMC, who was the guiding force for both the PNS and the PCNHS, lost his seat.

In 2007 civic polls, Bhapkar was the only candidate to have entered the PCMC from Nehrunagar in Chinchwad. But this year, he was defeated by Congress corporator Shakuntala Bansode. The PCNHS had fielded 15 candidates for the PCMC poll.

PCNHS president Manav Kamble told DNA, “The main reason behind our defeat was that there was tremendous money and muscle power used by the ruling party in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Bhapkar’s defeat was a great loss for us. Now our responsibility has increased, as there is nobody in the house to raise the voice of citizens.”

Echoing the sentiments, Velankar said, “The people who answered Anna’s call wanted clean candidates. We had fielded such candidates. Yet we lost.”

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