Pune: Suresh Kalmadi given a hero's welcome
Smitha Nair CNN-IBN | 05-Feb 21:12 PM
Mumbai: Suresh Kalmadi, facing corruption charges, will not campaign for the upcoming Pune civic polls. He has been suspended from the Congress party. But Kalmadi got a hero's welcome in Pune on Saturday evening.
Party workers defied the leadership and celebrated his homecoming. The Congress has officially stated that the sacked CWG chief will not campaign for the Pune Municipal Polls.
Congressmen and women lined up at his Pune home and his loyalists cornered two-thirds of the tickets.
For the Congress party, though, it's a catch-22. By openly associating with a corruption-tainted Kalmadi it risks alienating the Pune middle-class. But it needs the local strongman to counter the NCP.
Western Maharashtra has been the NCP's citadel but Kalmadi, like with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), has managed to rule over the Pune Municipal corporation with his band of loyalists.
Despite the Congress claims that the tainted MP is suspended and has no role in the polls, the Karve Road residence of Suresh Kalmadi has seen a steady stream of Congressmen and women - all with a stake in the corporation polls.
Former Congress Mayor and Kalmadi supporter Satish Desai said, "It's but natural that candidates and party men will line up here. They are seeking his guidance. They will tell him their problems."
As many as a 100 of the 152 tickets have been given to Kalamadi loyalists.
Slamming what he calls Kalmadi's back-door entry to the polls is NCPs Ajit Pawar - determined to be crowned the new king of Pune.
NCP Pune City President and former Mayor Vandana Chavan said, "What a shame. How his supporters gathered like. What were they celebrating? Punekars know better."
With a long legal battle ahead, any possible political rehabilitation is a still a distance away but Punekars could well determine whether Kalmadi becomes persona non-grata.
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