PUNE: NCP candidate Pooja Kodre, sister-in-law of late Chanchala Kodre, won the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) by-election for the Mundhwa-Magarpatta City seat, which fell vacant following Chanchala Kodre’s untimely demise. 

Pooja Kodre won the seat by a margin of 3,521 votes. The seat is considered an NCP bastion. Kodre polled 8,991 votes while her nearest rival Monika Tupe of the Shiv Sena received 5,470 votes. Sukanya Gaikwad of the BJP got 4,334 votes.

The NCP worked hard to retain the seat while the BJP was attempting to dethrone the NCP. This had made it a keenly fought contest. The bypolls saw a turnout of 35 per cent. The BJP expected their vote share to rise, but the NCP retained the seat as the party had done in the municipal polls in 2017.