Mumbai:

In a reprieve for Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and NDA candidate for the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, the Mumbai Police has given her a clean chit in an alleged Rs 25,000-crore cooperative bank scam. 

In a closure report filed in January – details of which have now emerged – the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police, which is investigating the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) case, has said that no criminal offence is made out in the transactions allegedly linked to Ms Pawar and her husband. 

Ms Pawar will be contesting from the Baramati seat, a bastion of Sharad Pawar, against his daughter Supriya Sule, who is also her sister-in-law. 

The filing of the report has given more ammunition to the opposition, which has consistently accused the BJP of using central agencies and police forces against leaders opposed to it and either going slow on the investigation or giving them a clean chit as soon as they align with the saffron party. The opposition parties call this the BJP’s “washing machine”.

Ajit Pawar had joined the ruling alliance of the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and taken oath as a Maharashtra deputy chief minister after breaking the NCP, formed by his uncle Sharad Pawar, last year. 

The EOW’s closure report states that the bank did not suffer any loss in the process of sanctioning loans to, or the sale of, the Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill, which is linked to Ajit Pawar.

It said that Sunetra Pawar had resigned from the post of director of Jai Agrotech in 2008 and, two years later,  the company gave Rs 20.25 crore to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill. The mill was then bought by a firm called Guru Commodity in an auction for Rs 65.75 crore but given on lease again to a company in which relatives of Ajit Pawar, including Rajendra Ghadge, were directors. 

Guru Commodity was given Rs 65.53 crore by this company as rent. The EOW said it found nothing illegal in these transactions. 

Washing Powder Jibe

The clean chit has come under fire from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) which is in an alliance with the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the Congress in the state. Party leader Anand Dubey said the police’s action is proof that opposition’s washing machine claim is completely justified.

Speaking in Hindi, Mr Dubey said, “Sunetra Pawar has been given a clean chit in a case in which an allegation of a Rs 25,000-crore scam was levelled by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had called the entire family corrupt. This proves that the opposition’s claim that leaders are cleaned of all allegations after being washed with washing powder is completely true. Every leader who was accused by the BJP has been given a clean chit after switching sides.”

Referring to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, Mr Dubey continued, “Cases, however, go on against opposition leaders and they are arrested even if they are chief ministers. But if they align with the BJP, they are made ministers, deputy chief ministers and given Lok Sabha tickets. And, when we point this out and oppose it, the BJP gets agitated and worried.”

The Baramati Lok Sabha constituency will go to the polls during the third phase on May 7. Results will be out on June 4. 

Pune (Maharashtra):

NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule on Sunday said that the BJP’s has conspired to field her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, against her in the Baramati Lok Sabha seat with an aim to finish the party chief Sharad Pawar.

In an exclusive interaction with ANI in Pune, Ms Sule said, “My fight is not against a person, but their mindset and policies. You have witnessed me in politics for the past 18 years; I have never made any personal comment on anyone.”

Ms Sule said Sunetra Pawar is the wife of her “elder brother and the elder sister-in-law is considered a mother.”

“It’s dirty politics by the BJP. Sunetra Pawar, being my elder brother’s wife, holds a special place in the family as the “vahini” (in Marathi) elder sister-in-law and she is a mother figure for me, but she has been given to contest against me just to create rift in the family, and the BJP is behind all this. It’s a conspiracy of the BJP, which is aimed at finishing off the name of Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar); they have nothing to do with the development etc of the constituency,” she added.

Meanwhile, after the announcement as the official candidate from the Grand Alliance for the Baramati seat, Sunetra Pawar said, “Today is a huge day for me. I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar for showing faith one me.”

The Baramati seat in Pune district has become a key battleground in Maharashtra’s Lok Sabha election after candidates from both the Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions of the Nationalist Congress Party were announced, turning it into a ‘Pawar versus Pawar’ contest.

The Baramati Lok Sabha constituency has been a stronghold of Sharad Pawar since the 1960s, Ajit Pawar has been a successful MLA from Baramati since 1991, with a significant victory in the 2019 elections and said to have had a major influence on vidhansabha seats of Indapur, Daund, Purandar, Bhor, and Khadakwasla, which comes under Baramati Lok Sabha.

Supriya Sule will be contesting this seat for the third time, while Sunetra Pawar will be making her political debut in this election.

Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.

The state, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh. Known for its political diversity and significant electoral influence, Maharashtra plays a crucial role in shaping national politics.

In the 2019 elections, the BJP emerged as the largest party with 23 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena with 18 seats.

(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.

Mumbai:

After days of hectic discussions, the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, has made more headway in their seat-share talks.

The NDA partners have finalised the four seats from where Ajit Pawar will field its contestants, sources told NDTV. Mr Pawar is bargaining for more seats in the state, they added.

According to talks so far, Sharad Pawar’s nephew, the leader of the “real” NCP, will field candidates from Baramati, Raigarh, Shirur, and Parbhani, and the BJP will get 31 seats, while the Shiv Sena will contest 13.

Baramati is the Pawars bastion. For decades, the political family has fought from the seat and won. However, this year will see a contest between family members after a shock rebellion by Ajit Pawar split the party and its supporters. 

The sitting MP from Baramati and Ajit Pawar’s cousin, Supriya Sule, will likely face off with her sister-in-law and Mr Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar.

Ajit Pawar has fielded NCP’s Maharashtra president and sitting MP Sunil Tatkare to defend Raigarh against Anant Geete, who will likely be named to contest from this constituency by Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena. Mr Geete had earlier served as a Union Minister in PM Narendra Modi’s first term.

In Shirur, the NCP may field Pradeep Kand or Adhalrao Patil. Both leaders are not a part of the party. While Mr Patil, a former Shiv Sena MP, was appointed as the chief of the MHADA last month by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Mr Kand is the chief of a district cooperative bank in Pune.

The NCP will likely field Rajesh Vitekar against Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav – Parbhani’s sitting MP and a leader from the Uddhav Thackeray camp. Mr Vitekar is the president of the Parbhani Zilla Parishad.

In the seat-sharing talks so far, 31 of the state’s 48 seats will be contested by the BJP, 13 by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and four by Ajit Pawar’s NCP.

Pune:

NCP (SP) leader and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, and Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, possible rivals in the coming Lok Sabha elections, on Friday met and hugged each other at a temple in Baramati tehsil.

Speculation is rife that Sunetra Pawar could be fielded by the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency against Sule, who is Ajit Pawar’s cousin and the daughter of party founder Sharad Pawar.

The two women came face to face at Kamleshwar temple in Jalochi village.

“After offering prayers at the temple, I happened to meet Supriya `tai’ (elder sister in Marathi). We both exchanged greetings on the occasion of Maha Shivratri and Women’s Day,” Sunetra Pawar said in a statement.

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