I am glad NCP’s Ajit Pawar didn’t campaign for me. The NCP lost wherever he campaigned,” Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi said after his third win in Pune Lok Sabha seat, by a margin of around 25,701 votes, over BJP’s Anil Shirole.

When counting was on, some reporters asked Kalmadi about Ajit staying away from his campaign in Pune district, to which Kalmadi had said, “I don’t want to say anything...” Ajit had kept away from the Kalmadi campaign saying he was busy canvassing for his party in adjoining Shirur, Maval and Baramati. The NCP lost the Shirur and Maval to the Shiv Sena.

Congress city chief Abhay Chhajed, legislators Chandrakant Chhajed and Ramesh Bagawe went with Kalmadi to the counting centre in Shivajinagar. Congress workers entered the celebratory mood as soon as it became clear Kalmadi would win and started raising slogans against Ajit.

Kalmadi, however, thanked NCP chief Sharad Pawar for campaigning for him. “I am surprised that NCP workers did not listen to their party chief even after Pawar saheb asked them to campaign for me,” he said and congratulated Supriya Sule for her win in Baramati, saying, “We will work together for development of the city”.

Pune was hotly contested by NCP in the seat sharing talks. The city NCP unit had tried to stake claim saying its strength had increased after coming to power in the local civic body in 2007. The NCP had been at loggerheads with the Congress after 2007 and had joined hands with the Sena and BJP to gain power in the civic body.

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