Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' public rally scheduled here this afternoon was cancelled due to "miscommunication of time".
Fadnavis was to address an election rally at the New English School Ground on Tilak Road at 2 PM as part of his last phase of campaigning for Pune Municipal Corporation polls. The voting is on February 21.
The chief minister, after reaching the venue, found that very few people had turned up for the rally and majority of the chairs were empty.
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Fadnavis, who left the venue for adjoining Pimpri Chinchwad area without addressing the rally, later tweeted, "I have cancelled my public meeting at Pune due to miscommunication of time of rally. I regret for the same. Heading towards Pimpri Chinchwad".
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Pune MLA and guardian minister Girish Bapat, reacting to the issue, said "Since seven rallies of CM were lined up today at different places in Pune, Mumbai and Nashik, the CM told us that if he addresses this rally, his schedule in Mumbai and Nashik will be derailed, so he requested us to continue with the rally and left for Pimpri Chinchwad."
Bapat accepted the communication gap in the entire episode, saying they were expecting people from various wards to come for the rally, however, since the campaigning is in the last stage, all the candidates and their supporters were busy in their own wards and thought that the rally would start late.
"CM has already addressed multiple rallies in Pune and the message has reached to the people. Pune citizens have always supported BJP so there is no worry," said Bapat.
