Govinda campaigns for Barne in Pimpri

Bollywood actor and Shiv Sena leader Govinda held a roadshow in Pimpri for Shrirang Barne, his party's candidate from the Maval Lok Sabha seat, on Sunday evening.

Speaking at the roadshow, Govinda said, "The work Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is doing is historic." When asked about whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies will reach the 400 Lok Sabha seats mark in the country and 45 in Maharashtra, the actor said, "I don't discuss numbers."

Barne, a two-term sitting MP, is seeking his third term. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Barne, then with the undivided Sena, defeated Ajit Pawar’s son, Parth, by over two lakh votes. Earlier in 2014, he emerged victorious by defeating PWP candidate Laxman Jagtap and NCP nominee Rahul Narvekar. This time around, he was nominated by Eknath Shinde's faction despite opposition to his candidature by the BJP and Ajit Pawarled NCP. However, now all three parties are making sure Barne wins again.

Barne is facing tough competition from Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjog Waghere. Waghere, who was earlier with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, joined Uddhav Thackeray's party in December last year. Aaditya Thackeray, Rohit Pawar and many other politicians were seen campaigning for him.

In total, the constituency boasts 2,509,461 voters, with 1,310,434 males, 1,198,868 females, and 159 individuals identifying as the third gender. Additionally, there are 632 overseas voters and 751 service voters. Voting is scheduled for May 13.