Amit Shah to visit Pune today; BJP looking to boost Party ahead of PMC civic polls

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is currently on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, will visit the headquarters of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) today, December 19. Shah will lay the foundation stone of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue within the headquarters. The home minister will also unveil the bust of Babasaheb Ambedkar at the entrance of the newly constructed civic building. Shah will meet with Bharatiya Janata Party’s local unit workers here ahead of the upcoming PMC polls.

Amit Shah will now visit the PMC and lay the foundation stone for the Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue. Shah’s visit to the PMC building was earlier set for November 26, but the visit was later postponed. Union minister Ramdas Athawale, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and former chief minister Devendra Fadanavis are all likely to attend the event along with other elected representatives representing the city.

Following the event, Shah is likely to address party workers here. The minister’s visit finds significance as it comes ahead of the PMC elections next year. The BJP’s local unit in Pune is looking at it as an effort to boost the morale of party workers ahead of the polls. The BJP, who earlier won the PMC elections for the first time in 2017, have a tough fight this time as Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCP and Congress, will look to take power.

Amit Shah's two-day visit to Maharashtra

As part of his two-day visit, Amit Shah attended the co-operative rally at Pravaranagar (Loni) in Ahmednagar from where India’s first co-operative sugar mill commenced. While speaking on the Union government’s efforts to support the cooperative sector in the country, Home Minister Shah iterated the government's plans for boosting cooperative societies and getting rid of its shortcomings. The Home Minister also visited the Shirdi shrine in Ahmednagar on Saturday and offered his prayers here.

Shah will inaugurate the new CFSL building in Pune on Sunday and have lunch with NDRF personnel. He'll attend the VAMNICOM convocation in the afternoon and lay the cornerstone for a statue of Maratha hero Chhatrapati Shivaji at the Pune Municipal Corporation. According to officials, Shah is meeting with BJP workers in Pune in the evening after these and then he will visit the home of famed historian Babasaheb Purandare, who passed away last month.

Image: PTI