Pune: PM Modi Likely To Address Rally At SP College Ground On November 12

Ahead of the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to campaign for the Mahayuti, an alliance consisting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. He is set to hold several rallies across the state, of which one is likely in Pune on November 12 at the Sir Parashurambhau (SP) College Ground.

The PM was scheduled to visit Pune on September 26 for the inauguration of the Pune Metro's District Court to Swargate underground stretch. He was also slated to lay the foundation stones for the metro route from Swargate to Katraj and an elevated corridor from Pimpri-Chinchwad to Nigdi. Additionally, he was going to launch various development projects worth over ₹22,600 crore and address a public meeting at the SP College Ground. However, due to heavy rainfall in the city, Modi's visit was cancelled, and the event was later held via video conferencing.

Meanwhile, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will start its campaign for the Assembly polls on November 6, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar announced on Thursday while in Pune's Baramati. Pawar said the campaign will be led by him, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. The veteran leader said MVA will present a "common minimum programme" to the people of the state to garner their support.

When asked about the friendly fights among MVA partners in some constituencies, Pawar said there are only 10-12 seats where two candidates from MVA have filed their nomination papers. "I am confident that we will find a solution in the next couple of days and resolve the issue," he said.