Mumbai:

Amid speculations that some of the MLAs of the Ajit Pawar camp are willing to return to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-SP, Sharad Pawar on Tuesday clarified that those who wanted to “weaken” the party would not be taken in.

However, the veteran NCP leader added that those MLAs who would not “hurt” the image of the party would be taken back, but after having a word with the party leaders and workers.

Addressing the media in Maharashtra’s Mumbai, Sharad Pawar said, “Those who wanted to weaken the party would not be taken in. But those leaders who would help strengthen the organisation and not hurt the image of the party would be taken in.”

“However, that too will happen after having a word with the party (NCP-SP) leaders and workers,” he added.

Following the Ajit Pawar camp’s poor showing in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha polls, there is growing speculation that some of the MLAs of the camp are willing to return to the NCP-SP ahead of the state assembly polls. The NCP bagged only one of the four seats it contested, whereas the NCP-SP won eight of the 10 seats it contested.

The Mahayuti alliance — Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and the NCP — collectively bagged 17 seats in Maharashtra with the BJP securing nine seats and the Shiv Sena seven.

The leaders of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP were reportedly upset over being offered only a post of Minister of State (MoS) in the Modi 3.0 cabinet.

NCP leader Praful Patel had been offered the post of MoS, however, he turned it down saying that accepting the position of Minister of State with independent charge in the Union Cabinet would be considered a demotion for him, as he was earlier a Cabinet Minister at the centre.

During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, under the leadership of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr Patel was the cabinet minister for the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

Earlier, Ajit Pawar had said that his party is going to wait for the BJP to change its offer.

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

Mumbai:

In Maharashtra’s Baramati, a historic showdown awaits as the splintered National Congress Party (NCP) gears up for a unique ‘Pawar vs Pawar’ contest in Supriya Sule, daughter of the party’s patriarch Sharad Pawar, going up against Sunetra Pawar, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Baramati, in Pune district, has evolved over the years from facing devastating famines into a thriving hub of agriculture, industry, and commerce. Decades of Pawar family dominance have shaped the political narrative of this region. The Pawar family’s influence has been integral to this transformation, with Sharad Pawar’s political career tracing back to the 1960s when he first won in this constituency.

Schism In The Family

The emergence of two factions within the NCP, led by Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar, has set the stage for a dramatic electoral showdown. The NCP’s founding faction has nominated Supriya Sule, 54, while Sunetra Pawar, 60 and Ms Sule’s sister-in-law, has entered the fray as the candidate representing the rival faction.

On July 2 last year, Ajit Pawar, accompanied by eight NCP MLAs, aligned with the Eknath Shinde administration, prompting a fracture within the NCP party ranks. The division within the NCP has left voters and party workers with a choice between two Pawars.

“It will be a very tough choice for voters and party workers to choose between two Pawars. It is a contest they would never have imagined before July 2 last year,” said Madan Devkate, a local leader, as quoted by news agency PTI.

Since the 1960s, the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, encompassing Baramati, Indapur, Daund, Purandar, Bhor, and Khadakwasla assembly seats, has served as Sharad Pawar’s stronghold.

Ajit Pawar has represented Baramati as an MLA since 1991, and had registered a resounding victory in 2019 by securing an astonishing 83 per cent of the vote share.

Supriya vs Sunetra

The Baramati Lok Sabha constituency consists of six assembly segments: Baramati town, Indapur, Daund, Purandar, Bhor, and Khadakwasla.

Within these segments, the Congress holds sway over Bhor and Purandar, while Baramati and Indapur have historically favoured the NCP (prior to its division). The BJP holds influence in Daund and Khadakwasala.

In the 2019 elections, Supriya Sule clinched her third consecutive win in the Baramati constituency under the NCP banner.

NCP (SP) – the Sharad Pawar faction, a member of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), along with Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, will vie for 10 seats in Maharashtra, a state with 48 Lok Sabha seats. Baramati’s polls are scheduled for the third phase on May 7.

For Sule, aged 54, this marks her debut in a Lok Sabha election where the NCP’s support base will be divided between followers of her father and her cousin. While Sule relies on the allegiance of the Pawar Clan’s supporters and her track record as a Lok Sabha representative, Ajit Pawar can garner additional backing from Shiv Sena cadres under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s leadership, as well as the BJP.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate Kanchan Kul, wife of Daund MLA Rahul Kul, suffered defeat to Ms Sule by a margin of over 1.55 lakh votes.

Ms Sule’s victory margin in Baramati during her debut Lok Sabha contest in 2009 was 3,36,831 against BJP nominee Kanta Nalawade. This margin decreased to 69,719 in 2014 when Rashtriya Samaj Paksha leader Mahadev Jankar contested against her. In 2019, Ms Sule’s vote tally surged to 6,86,714 with a vote share of 52.63%, securing victory by over 1.55 lakh votes.

Sunetra Pawar is the second member of Ajit Pawar’s family to contest Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, Ajit’s son Parth contested from the Maval seat in Pune district but was defeated by Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Barne.

Sunetra Pawar hails from a politically active family in Marathwada. She is the sister of Padamsinh Patil, a former minister who initially belonged to the Congress but later joined Sharad Pawar’s NCP in 1999.

New Delhi:

Ajit Pawar may be Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, but that hasn’t stopped his brother – Shrinivas Pawar – from exercising an elder sibling’s privilege, a stern rebuke, ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

A video of Mr Pawar’s scolding has been shared online. In it, Shrinivas Pawar distances himself from his brother and labels him “nalayak“, or “worthless”. He also accuses him of abandoning their uncle, Sharad Pawar, when the veteran politician needed him the most. “It is my personal opinion there can be no more worthless person than him (Ajit Pawar),” Mr Pawar told reporters.

Not insignificantly, the jabs came as he visited a temple in Maharashtra’s Baramati, which is the family stronghold; Sharad Pawar is a six-time MP from this seat, including four consecutive wins between 1996 and 2004. The seat has been held by his daughter, Supriya Sule, since.

In the 2024 election Ms Sule will likely face-off against Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra.

“I followed Ajit all the time… in all situations. I supported decisions and never questioned him. Many people know me here (Baramati)… I grew up here. When Ajit and I had a discussion, I told him, ‘you keep contesting Baramati as MLA and leave Lok Sabha under Pawar saheb’s leadership… as we are grateful to him for various things he did for us. I didn’t feel good about leaving him alone at 83.”

Pawar senior also said the 83-year-old Sharad Pawar had done a lot for the family.

“Some of our friends told me the future lies with Ajit instead of Sharad… but this thought was very painful. (I don’t) want to leave a person in their old age… a person who can benefit us. In my personal view, if someone thinks in such a way, he is an incompetent person,” he declared.

Shrinivas Pawar wasn’t done yet. He also accused Ajit of standing on the shoulder of their uncle for political gain, and then casting him aside, and then appeared to signal a break with his brother.

“This is like removing the owner of a house after getting ownership of the land. We all know whoever got positions in politics… it was because of Sharad Pawar. Like medicines (which have an expiry date) some relationships also expire. I am 60… I can’t live under pressure,” he said.

Shrinivas Pawar’s broadside at his brother was a stinging one, but it was unlikely that it was an unexpected one; last month the Deputy Chief Minister said, “My entire family will now be against me. They will campaign against me… but my workers are my family now.”

This particular Pawar versus Pawar squabble comes as Ajit Pawar’s faction faced a setback in the Supreme Court in a battle for the undivided NCP’s clock symbol. It, and the NCP name, was given to Ajit Pawar by the Election Commission, but the Sharad Pawar camp has challenged that award.

READ | “Mockery Of Voters”: Supreme Court In Pawar versus Pawar Hearing

The court has, for now, said the Ajit Pawar camp gets the symbol, but only with suitable disclaimers in all instances of use. The court also questioned the poll panel’s recognition of the Ajit Pawar camp as the “real” NCP, just as it recognised Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Sena as the “real Shiv Sena”.

In July last year, Pawar junior forced a break within the Nationalist Congress Party founded and led by Sharad Pawar; Ajit Pawar led 40+ MLAs into the waiting arms of the Bharatiya Janata Party, strengthening the BJP-Shinde Shiv Sena faction’s control of the Maharashtra government.

READ | Some “Not Ready To Retire”: Nephew Ajit Targets Uncle Sharad Again

Since then, uncle and nephew have traded barbs. In January, Ajit Pawar attacked Sharad Pawar for not stepping down as the party boss, as he had promised. “Some do not retire…” he declared.

READ | “I Am Not Old”: NCP Boss Sharad Pawar Jabs Critics Over Age Dig

The Pawar family split also compounded the problems of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, a mismatched (on the face of it) alliance between the Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena group led by ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, which went through its own civil war almost exactly one year earlier.

With input from ANI

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