The BJP has represented Kasba Peth in the state Assembly for the last 28 years. Girish Bapat, the current BJP Lok Sabha MP from Pune, won the prestigious seat five times till 2019. The bypoll was held on February 26 and votes were counted on Thursday. Pawar said, "BJP has negligible presence in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal and Karnataka, which goes to polls this year.