The high-profile three-term MP from Pune, who has consistently represented the Congress in the Lok Sabha after victories in the 1996, 2004 and 2009 polls, has always been seen as an insurmountable hurdle by party aspirants.
Lok Sabha aspirants from within the Congress see an opportunity with the cloud of allegations hanging thick on the party’s Pune MP, Suresh Kalmadi.
The high-profile three-term MP from Pune, who has consistently represented the Congress in the Lok Sabha after victories in the 1996, 2004 and 2009 polls, has always been seen as an insurmountable hurdle by party aspirants.
Kalmadi’s showmanship, his ability to organise mega events, his command over a sizeable section of Pune corporators and his popularity among cosmopolitan Puneites have been his strengths. Besides three terms in the Lok Sabha, he has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha for four terms.
Added to this is his strong networking with powerful ministers and the Congress high command, which has silenced his local opponents. However, his image has taken a severe beating with allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) held in Delhi in October.
Many of his supporters and opponents, who preferred not to be identified, told DNA that Kalmadi would not get the party ticket for the next Lok Sabha polls. They said the party would inevitably look for another candidate from Pune.
Political leaders said that the options before the party included a long-time aspirant and MLC, Mohan Joshi, or Lokmanya Tilak’s descendant, Rohit Tilak.
When contacted, Joshi declined to get into a discussion, but said, “I am willing to represent the party in the next Lok Sabha elections. In fact, I have already started preparations for it.”Joshi, who has criticised Kalmadi in the past for not giving an opportunity to loyalists in the party, refrained from criticising Kalmadi this time.
Presenting his credentials, he said he has served as the party’s city unit president between 1997 and 2004. He said he has always been a Congress loyalist, as against Kalmadi, who had rebelled against the party and
contested the 1999 LS elections as an independent with support from the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.
Congress sources said Kalmadi would be 70 years old by the next general elections in 2014. This would further diminish his chances to get a nomination. While Pune has always been a Congress bastion, the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also hopeful of breaking into it in the next polls.
Its defeated candidate in the last polls, Anil Shirole, told DNA his party would certainly benefit from Kalmadi’s downfall.
“Kalmadi will not get a ticket in the next polls and the Congress will be forced to field a new face. This will certainly benefit the BJP,” he asserted.
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