Maruti Bhapkar not to contest Pune civic polls

The lone independent corporator in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and Right to Information activist, Maruti Bhapkar, has decided not to contest the forthcoming civic polls.

Known for his integrity, Bhapkar lost his Mohannagar ward in Chinchwad in the exercise to restructure the wards. His ward is now under the reserved category.

Bhapkar has decided to devote his time to ‘jan seva’ (serving the people). In 2007 civic polls, Bhapkar won with a handsome margin of votes from Mohannagar, unseating corporator Madhukar Babar and Pimpri-Chinchwad Shiv Sena chief Netaji Chavan.

Bhapkar, who has stopped wearing footwear for the last six years as a mark of protest against corruption and inability of the civic body to provide houses for slum dwellers, is active in social service for the last two decades.

He told DNA he was neither sad nor happy. “The five-year term was like an examination for me. I think I did well in the examination,’’ he added.