Pune (Maharashtra) [India], January 15 : Union Minister of State Murlidhar Mohol cast his vote at polling centre number 42 in ward number 31 at P Jog School in Pune as Maharashtra began voting to elect local body representatives across 29 municipal corporations.
Speaking to ANI after exercising his franchise, Mohol said, "I came with my family to cast a vote. I can see a massive response from the public, and it is the result of the work we have done. A lot of projects started in Pune under the leadership of PM Modi, like the 23 Km metro, which was just on paper; moving forward, it will expand to a network of 120 Km. A lot of infrastructure projects have been started as well. Pune benefitted with a lot of schemes under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis. Pune's public votes for development. They are with the BJP, and the mayor of Pune will be from the BJP only."
Urging for massive voter turnout, Mohol said, "I appeal to the voters to come out in large numbers to exercise their voting rights." The results for the civic polls will be declared on January 16.
Earlier on January 8, Mohol criticised the Congress and the National Congress Party (NCP), accusing them of misleading the public over development issues, particularly the Pune Metro project. Speaking to reporters, the BJP leader alleged that the project failed to make any progress during NCP leader Ajit Pawar's tenure as Pune's Guardian Minister.
Mohol said discussions on introducing a Metro system in Pune began as early as 2001 but remained stalled for more than a decade. "Between 2001 and 2014, when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister and Ajit Pawar was the Guardian Minister of Pune, the Metro project did not move forward even by an inch," Mohol said, adding that the project gained momentum only after 2014 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Claiming that the BJP alone gave real impetus to the Pune Metro, Mohol said, "Only the Bharatiya Janata Party truly accelerated the Pune Metro project. Today, nearly two lakh Punekars travel daily on the 31-km Metro network. If you ask these commuters, they will unequivocally say that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who started the Metro." He further said that instead of misleading citizens with false claims, Ajit Pawar should demonstrate the role played by the Congress or the NCP in the Metro project, alleging that Pawar was making baseless statements as he had nothing concrete to present ahead of the elections.