Baramati to Witness Another High-Stakes Contest in Pawar Family

Mumbai:With the NCP officially announcing the candidature of party chief Ajit Pawar on Wednesday, the high-profile Baramati assembly eat is likely to witness yet another ‘Pawar vs Pawar’ battle in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha polls in Maharashtra as the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has finalised the name of Yugendra Pawar. The NCP (SP)’s likely nominee is the grandnephew of Sharad Pawar and nephew of Ait Pawar.

The NCP on Wednesday fielded Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar from the Baramati Vidhan Sabha constituency as part of its first candidate list for the Maharashtra elections. There was uncertainty over the possibility of Ajit Pawar fighting the elections as the NCP chief himself a few months back had said he was no longer interested in contesting from Baramati. He had also hinted his younger son Jay Pawar might replace at the assembly seat.

The Sharad Pawar-led party has almost finalised Yugendra Pawar’s name for the Baramati seat. The party has also reportedly issued an authorisation form to him.

Yugendra is the son of Ajit Pawar’s younger brother Srinivas Pawar, who sided with uncle Sharad Pawar during the Lok Sabha elections. Srinivas had also criticised Ajit for fielding wife Sunetra against Sharad Pawar’s daughter and incumbent MP Supriya Sule, making it a contest within the family. Yugendra too had campaigned actively for Sule during the polls.

In the contest that caught the attention of the entire country, Sule had trounced Sunetra Pawar with a big margin of over 1.5 lakh votes and won the polls from Baramati for the fourth time.

Along with Lok Sabha seat, Baramati assembly seat, in Pune district, has been a stronghold of the Pawar family, with Ajit Pawar representing it from 1993. In the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls, Ajit Pawar defeated his BJP rival by a record margin of over 1,65,000 votes.

However, the rift in the once close-knit Pawar family came to fore in July last year when Ajit Pawar revolted against Sharad Pawar and joined the BJP-led NDA to become a deputy chief minister alongside BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis in the government headed by Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde.

According to political observers, the outcome of this election will be crucial in determining the future of the Pawar family’s political legacy in Baramati and Maharashtra’s political landscape too. The battle between Yugendra and Ajit Pawar is likely to be intense and bitter and will have a long reaching impact on the internal dynamics of the NCP.

The NCP announced its first list of candidates for 38 seats. The party has fielded Deputy Speaker of state Assembly Narhari Zirwal from the Dindori seat, senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal from the Yeola seat and ex-minister Rajkumar Badole from the Arjuni-Morgaon seat. Badole joined the NCP only two days ago after quitting its alliance partner BJP.

The Ajit Pawar-led party has also given tickets to two sitting Congress MLAs — Sulbha Khodke from the Amravati seat and Hiraman Khoskar from the Igatpuri seat. Bharat Gavit, the son of late Congress leader Manikrao Gavit, has been given a ticket from the Navapur seat.