Rajendra Pandharpure

Pune’s Ganeshotsav has become an enormous civic and political stage, and the ruling party has proved adept at occupying it. Pune: The city’s Ganeshotsav is entering its final phase, but the festival has already demonstrated something beyond its extraordinary crowds and familiar spectacle: the extent to which it has become a political stage. This year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has left a particularly visible imprint on the festivities, using an event that reaches deep into the city’s...

From the fight over DJ noise to questions over a midnight arrest, two controversies have exposed an uncomfortable gap between the BJP’s rhetoric on citizens’ rights and the conduct of its local establishment The BJP in Pune is facing mounting criticism over two separate but politically resonant episodes — the assault on citizen activist Vidyanand Bapat, who had campaigned against loud DJ systems, and the arrest of YouTuber Santosh Pandit, a familiar civic commentator who has repeatedly...

As DJs, Dolby systems and crowded mandaps return, Pune residents are pushing back against noise and traffic during the city’s biggest festival. Pune: The majority of the city’s residents have impotently opposed the use of ear-splitting DJ systems during the Ganeshotsav festival year after year. This year, citizens are voicing their opposition through various channels, while also expressing strong disapproval of festival mandaps (temporary pavilions) that obstruct traffic. Mayor Manjusha...