Baramati:

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar turned the heat on his estranged nephew and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Tuesday, virtually accusing him of breaking the family for his political ambitions.

Campaigning for his grandnephew and NCP (SP) nominee from the Baramati assembly segment, Yugendra Pawar, the Pawar senior mimicked Ajit, who a day earlier became emotional over Yugendra’s candidature at a rally.

Sharad Pawar’s action of pretending to wipe his eyes with a handkerchief in the middle of the speech evoked a peal of laughter from the audience.

The elections to 288 seats in Maharashtra are scheduled for November 20. Votes will be counted three days later.

Addressing a rally on Monday, Baramati MLA Ajit Pawar alleged that “seniors” should have ensured that a family rift is avoided, referencing to Yugendra’s candidature.

“My parents and brothers never taught me the sin to break the house (family),” Sharad Pawar said while addressing a rally at Kanheri town near Baramati.

“People tasked me with leading Maharashtra a long time ago. I am now a mentor and have entrusted the party affairs to the new generation,” he said.

Underscoring the uncertainties of politics, the former Union minister said one should not leave his colleagues for the sake of securing power for oneself.

“Unfortunately, when we (NCP) were not in power, some of our colleagues suddenly woke up at dawn and took oath. That government didn’t last for even for four days,” Pawar said.

Notably, Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister when he was a member of the opposition NCP (undivided) with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as CM at Raj Bhavan amid a political tug-of-war over the formation of a government, post the 2019 assembly elections.

“He (Ajit) went to the other side to secure the deputy chief minister’s post despite having served as Deputy CM four times. You got the position most of the time. If you fail to get the position only once, will you break the house (family)?” Sharad Pawar asked.

Now it is being said that I broke the family. It is a funny thing to hear, he added.

The veteran politician underlined that he never created a rift in the Pawar clan and everyone listened to him as the family head.

“I never did anything by going against anyone and will never do so. Going forward, regardless of anyone taking any stand, I will not go on the wrong track. I will ensure that my family will remain united,” Sharad Pawar added.

Targeting Ajit, the Pawar senior referred to the former’s speech at a rally.

“It was said that I created a rift in the family. The sin of breaking the family was never taught by my parents and brothers. All my brothers, including Anantrao Pawar (father of Ajit Pawar), lived with me,” he added.

Sharad Pawar recalled how he concentrated on politics in Maharashtra and at the national level, while domestic issues and farming were taken care of by his family members.

“I could concentrate on my job because of the blessings of my brothers. I won’t discriminate against their children,” he added.

He highlighted the “change of language” used by Ajit Pawar from the campaigning for the Baramati Lok Sabha seat to the latest emotive pitch.

Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar lost her maiden electoral contest from the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency to her sister-in-law and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule.

“During Lok Sabha polls, people were told (by Ajit) not to fall prey to emotion. People were told that Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) would shed tears and seek votes (for his daughter Supriya Sule),” Sharad Pawar said.

“You might have seen in yesterday’s speech…..”, he said even as he took out a handkerchief pretending to wipe tears, mimicking Ajit.

Pawar claimed he offered positions as ministers to several leaders but didn’t entrust Supriya Sule with a single position.

The Pawar senior also said he was dragged to the court as the name and symbol of the NCP founded by him were allotted to the other faction.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

The BJP on Monday released its third list of 25 candidates for the Maharashtra assembly polls, giving tickets to two Congress turncoats and the personal assistant of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The BJP, so far, has announced candidates for 146 seats. Polls to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will take place on November 20, while results will be declared on November 23.

Jitesh Antapurkar, who won a bypoll in 2021 on a Congress ticket and is considered close to former chief minister Ashok Chavan, has been nominated from Deglur. Chavan had left the Congress recently and joined the BJP, which made him a Rajya Sabha MP.

Archana Patil-Chakurkar, the daughter-in-law of Congress veteran and former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil, has been fielded from the Latur City seat. She had joined the BJP from the Congress in March this year.

Sumit Wankhede, who has served as Fadnavis’s personal assistant for several years, will be the BJP’s candidate from the Arvi assembly constituency.

Incidentally, the BJP had given Fadnavis’ former PA Abhimanyu Pawar a ticket from Ausa in 2019. Pawar had won at the time. Later, Shreekant Bharatiya was made an MLC by the party.

Borivali BJP MLA Sunil Rane has been replaced with Sanjay Upadhyay, while MLC Praveen Datke has been fielded from the Nagpur Central seat.

Ashish Deshmukh, son of former Congress state president Ranjeet Deshmukh, has been given a ticket from Savner in Nagpur district.

Sitting MLA Bharti Lavekar has been repeated from Versova’s seat in the western part of the metropolis.

The BJP’s third list features four women, including Lavekar and Archana Patil-Chakurkar.

The other two are Sneha Dube, who has been fielded from the Vasai seat in Palghar district, and Sai Prakash Dahake from Karanja in Washim. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

The Congress on Saturday released its second list of 23 candidates for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections, fielding a “strong” contender against state Bharatiya Janata Party President Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

Bawankule, who is recontesting Kamthi seat in Nagpur district – which he had bagged in 2004, 2009 and 2014 till he was dropped in 2019, will lock horns with Suresh Y. Bhoyar, a former President of the Nagpur Zila Panchayat.

Similarly, in Savner in Nagpur district, the Congress has fielded Anuja S. Kedar, the wife of former minister and five-term MLA Sunil C. Kedar, who was convicted in a graft case and disqualified. The daughter of the legendary cricket administrator and former Maharashtra Speaker SK Wankhede, whose name adorns the BCCI stadium in Mumbai, Kedar had filed her nomination papers as an Independent, but will now contest on a Congress ticket.

The Congress’ second list comes two days after the first list with 48 candidates was issued as the party was purportedly in a tug-of-war with Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Shiv Sena-UBT over certain seats in the Vidarbha region.

The others figuring in Saturday’s list also include Rajesh Manavatkar (Bhusawal), Swati Wakekar (Jamod), Mahesh Gange (Akot), Shekhar Shende (Wardha), Girish Pandav (Nagpur South), Pooja Thavker (Bhandara), Dalip Banson (Arjuni-Morgaon), Rajkumar Puram (Amgaon), Vasant Purke (Ralegaon), Anil Balasaheb Mangulkar (Yavatmal), Jitendra Moghe (Arni), Sahebrao Kamble (Umarkhed), Kailas Gorantyal (Jalna), and Madhukar Deshmukh (Aurangabad East).

Vijay Patil will contest from Vasai, Kalu Bhadeliya from Kandivali East, Yashwant Singh from Charkop, Ganesh Kumar Yadav from Sion-Koliwada, Hemant Ogle from Srirampur, Abhay K. Salunkhe from Nilanga, and Ganpatrao Patil for Shiro).

Maharashtra Congress Legislative Party Leader Vijay alias Balasaheb Thorat is likely to call on NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and SS-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray this afternoon to finalise the remaining seat-sharing ratio, including the number of seats that will be allocated to smaller allies, as the last date for filing nominations (October 29) approaches.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Several prominent leaders including Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and state NCP(SP) chief Jayant Patil on Thursday filed their nominations for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.

As many as 153 candidates have filed nominations across the state so far since the process began on October 22. The last date for filing nominations is October 29.

Of the ruling alliance, NCP ministers Dilip Walse Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal filed the papers for Ambegaon and Yeola seats, respectively, while BJP minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha filed his nomination for Malabar Hill in Mumbai.

Aaditya Thackeray filed his nomination for Worli in Mumbai, his current constituency, while his cousin Amit Thackeray, son of MNS chief Raj Thackeray, filed his nomination for the neighbouring Mahim seat. Amit Thackeray is making his electoral debut.

Another debutant Rohit Patil, son of the late NCP leader R R Patil, entered the fray from Tasgaon-Kavthemahankal on the NCP(SP) ticket.

Jayant Patil, a former minister, filed his papers from Islampur. Harshvardhan Patil, who recently joined the NCP (SP), filed his nomination for Indapur. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)