Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena demands three seats in Pune ahead of state elections

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], October 9 (ANI): Amidst seat-sharing talks among Mahayuti, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena demanded three of Pune's eight assembly constituencies seats in the upcoming state elections. Despite not having any MLAs in Pune city currently, Shiv Sena's Pune city President, Pramod Bhangire said that the party has gained significant ground in terms of organization and cadre strength.
Pramod Bhangire said, "Today there were some media reports that the Shivsena has no claim on any of the seats in Pune city but these reports are false we have claim on at least three seats out of eight seats in Pune city Shivsena is specifically eyeing Hadapsar, Wadgaon Sheri, and Khadakwasla assembly constituencies, Bhangire, who is eying for the Hadapsar constituency himself, has urged Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to consider the party's demand for these three constituencies."
Historically, Shiv Sena had a presence in Pune, with two MLAs in 2009 - one in Kothrud and one in Hadapsar - before the party split. The upcoming elections will test Shiv Sena's strength in the city.
Currently in Pune city BJP holds five seats: Parvati (Madhuri Misal), Kothrud (Chandrakant Patil), Shivajinagar (Siddharth Shirole), Pune Cantonment ( Sunil Kamble), and Khadakwasla (Bhimarao Tapkir) whereas NCP holds two seats Wadgaon Sheri (Sunil Tingre) and Hadapsar (Chetan Tupe) both MLAs are currently with Ajit Pawar, Congress holds one seat Kasba Ravindra Dhangekar as MLA.
Earlier on Wednesday morning media reports had claimed that Shivsena has no claims of assembly constituency seats in Pune city which was later refuted by the Senior Shivsena leader and city President Pramod Bhangire. (ANI)