Kamal Vyavahare, who was elected as Pune’s first woman mayor in the 1990s, has been nominated as an independent candidate from Kasba Peth Assembly constituency in the Maharashtra Assembly elections on November 20. She resigned from the Congress party after the party re-nominated Ravindra Dhangekar as a Congress MP and refused to give her votes. Dhangekar won the Kasba Peth elections in 2023 and became the current MP.
Vyavajal, 68, was born in Vedgaon in Sangora taluka and has been active in politics for the past four decades.
Vyavahar, former general secretary of the Maharashtra Mahila Congress Committee, spoke to Soham Shah about the reasons behind her decision to resign from the Congress.
Q: Was there any discussion within the party before resigning?
practice: Rather than rebelling, I first resigned from the Congress party and then submitted my nomination. I’ll discuss [the issue] Spoke to almost all senior party leaders in the state but unfortunately, no one responded.
Q: Ravindra Dhangekar won the Kasba Peth seat after many years, defeating the BJP. It was said to be an important victory. Why do you think Congress should nominate him again?
practice: Dangekar is not solely responsible for the BJP’s defeat in Pesburg. We all work hard as a team to achieve this goal. Dangkar does not belong to the Congress party… His ideology keeps changing with every election, everyone knows this.
I am the only woman elected to the corporate board five times. Isn’t it enough for my party to consider me instead of bringing in a candidate from a different ideology and party? Every political party is talking about active participation of women in politics and so is Congress. But the shocking fact is that the Congress did not provide a ticket to any woman for the Pune assembly elections. This is the main reason I chose to run independently in this election.
Q: If elected, what issues in Kasba Peth are you committed to solving?
practice: Kasbah has been facing the same problems for 40 years but nothing has changed: old buildings around Shaniwar Wada, narrow lanes, women’s safety, lack of women’s toilets, traffic congestion and slum issues.
Q: What is your ideology for this election?
practice: I have been actively engaged in social work for the past 40 years, and my thinking has always been based on the development and well-being of the people. This is still true today.
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