Note ban hurts BJP's chances at APMC elections

The note ban seems to have cost BJP votes in the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) elections, which were held on Sunday in Panvel. It was the first time that BJP contested in this poll and there were a total of 18 candidates, but the party remained unsuccessful in garnering votes. Members of the Opposition parties said the note ban hurt BJP’s chances at the elections.

Among the 18 seats, around 11 seats were from the co-operative credit society of the farmers, while the remaining seven were from various political parties. Prashant Thakur, an MLA from Panvel said, "The 11 co-operative societies held on to their seats, we didn’t apply for any of their seats. But we contested for the remaining 7 seats for the first time. NCP, Shiv Sena, Congress also contested the elections. The former president of the APMC, Panvel, Rajendra Patil already had a good hold over the market, which got him votes."

According to Thakur, BJP took part in the elections to expose the corruption in the APMC. "We contested only to expose the wrong-doings. The elected party had asked us to join them and said they will offer us a seat, but we didn’t accept it." Meanwhile, Rajendra Patil said, "The voter knows best and decides on the right candidate. The BJP, which is talking about corruption in the system now, had themselves distributed cash among public. They had also tried to register false cases against us. But nothing could help them win."