NEW DELHI: Sharad Pawar , the wily old politician of Maharashtra, seems to have played yet another masterstroke against his estranged nephew Ajit Pawar - who rebelled in June 2023 and split the Nationalist Congress Party. Ajit Pawar went on to wrest control of the party founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999, but he seems to be struggling to take control of his uncle's poltical legacy in the family bastion of Baramati.
Baramati is all set for the second Pawar vs Pawar battle as Sharad Pawar has fielded his grandnephew Yugendra Pawar against Ajit Pawar in the Baramati assembly constituency. The senior Pawar has made a strong endorsement of Yugendra calling him the family's next generation's leadership.
Sharad Pawar, who was present for the filing of Yugendra's nomination, said, "Today, we came here to file the nomination form of Yugendra Pawar, a young candidate from Baramati. He has studied abroad, is highly educated, and is accustomed to the administration and sugar-related business. The party has given opportunity to a youngster. I am sure that the people of Baramati will accept this new generation and new leadership and will throw their might behind him."
In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule had defeated Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra in Baramati Lok Sabha seat by a huge margin of 1,58,333 votes.
Ajit Pawar, who had then admitted that bringing politics in family by making his wife contest against cousin Supriya was a mistake, this time around has gone on the offensive against his uncle Sharad Pawar. Ajit has accused Sharad Pawar of creating a split within the family and taking politics to a low level.
"I previously admitted to making a mistake, but it seems like others are now making errors too. My family and I had agreed to file the form in Baramati first, but that didn't happen. Despite the challenges, we managed to improve the situation. My mother has been very supportive, and she even advised that they should not nominate anyone against Ajit Pawar. However, I was told that Saheb (Sharad Pawar) instructed someone to file nomination against me. Saheb has created split within the family. I just want to say that politics should not be brought to such a low level, because it took the generations to be united and it doesn't take a single moment to break the family," he said.
Ajit Pawar has won the Baramati assembly seat 7 times till now. However, this will be the first time Ajit will be facing the might of Sharad Pawar, who has won 6 assembly and 5 Lok Sabha elections from Baramati, as a political opponent.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar's brother Srinivas Pawar, who is father of Yugendra, refuted claims that their mother had made any such statement (on not wanting Yugendra to fight the deputy CM). "I don't know why Ajitdada made this statement. There was no discussion about Pawar saheb. For our mother, both Ajitdada and her grandson Yugendra are the same. I do not think our mother will make such a statement," Srinivas Pawar asserted.
Srinivas Pawar further said he had told the deputy CM not to field Sunetra Pawar against Sule in the Lok Sabha polls. "Supriya is our younger sister and we have seen her grow up. However, Ajitdada did not relent and went ahead with his plans. When we told him not to field Sunetra against Supriya, our mother was there," Srinivas Pawar said.
Yugendra Pawar, on his part, admits that his debut political contest will not be easy despite the backing of Sharad Pawar. "I don't think it will be tough but I don't even think that it will be easy either. But initially Pawar Sahab was supporting Ajit Pawar, we fondly call him Dada but people of Baramati in large numbers are behind Pawar Sahab and that is what they showed in Lok Sabha. They will show this in the upcoming assembly as well as other elections also," Yugendra told news agency ANI.
The young Pawar feels the political battle within the family is "sad and unfortunate." However, he puts the blame for this on Ajit Pawar, who rebelled against the family patriarch.
"I feel it is quite sad, quite unfortunate that this had to come in the family. It all started in Lok Sabha and until then we were always together. Even the incumbent MLA (Ajit Pawar) was always under the guidance of the founder of the party and family patriarch Sharad Pawar Sahab. What happened all of India has seen. The party split and the symbol was given to them by the Election Commission," he said.
"This was unfortunate but all of us in the family decided that we need to stay with Pawar Sahab because he is the founder of the NCP, he is the patriarch of the family and it is because of him that not only Baramati but everybody around also prospered," Yugendra said.
Clearly, Ajit Pawar has a tough challenge ahead and the Maharashtra deputy chief minister will be forced to divide his time between focussing on his own seat and campaigning for other NCP candidates, who would be heavily dependent on him. Sharad Pawar, on the other hand, with the help of his daughter Supriya Sule will continue to keep the pressure on his estranged nephew by going all out for Yugendra's victory.
Baramati is all set for the second Pawar vs Pawar battle as Sharad Pawar has fielded his grandnephew Yugendra Pawar against Ajit Pawar in the Baramati assembly constituency. The senior Pawar has made a strong endorsement of Yugendra calling him the family's next generation's leadership.
Sharad Pawar, who was present for the filing of Yugendra's nomination, said, "Today, we came here to file the nomination form of Yugendra Pawar, a young candidate from Baramati. He has studied abroad, is highly educated, and is accustomed to the administration and sugar-related business. The party has given opportunity to a youngster. I am sure that the people of Baramati will accept this new generation and new leadership and will throw their might behind him."
In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule had defeated Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra in Baramati Lok Sabha seat by a huge margin of 1,58,333 votes.
Ajit Pawar, who had then admitted that bringing politics in family by making his wife contest against cousin Supriya was a mistake, this time around has gone on the offensive against his uncle Sharad Pawar. Ajit has accused Sharad Pawar of creating a split within the family and taking politics to a low level.
"I previously admitted to making a mistake, but it seems like others are now making errors too. My family and I had agreed to file the form in Baramati first, but that didn't happen. Despite the challenges, we managed to improve the situation. My mother has been very supportive, and she even advised that they should not nominate anyone against Ajit Pawar. However, I was told that Saheb (Sharad Pawar) instructed someone to file nomination against me. Saheb has created split within the family. I just want to say that politics should not be brought to such a low level, because it took the generations to be united and it doesn't take a single moment to break the family," he said.
Ajit Pawar has won the Baramati assembly seat 7 times till now. However, this will be the first time Ajit will be facing the might of Sharad Pawar, who has won 6 assembly and 5 Lok Sabha elections from Baramati, as a political opponent.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar's brother Srinivas Pawar, who is father of Yugendra, refuted claims that their mother had made any such statement (on not wanting Yugendra to fight the deputy CM). "I don't know why Ajitdada made this statement. There was no discussion about Pawar saheb. For our mother, both Ajitdada and her grandson Yugendra are the same. I do not think our mother will make such a statement," Srinivas Pawar asserted.
Srinivas Pawar further said he had told the deputy CM not to field Sunetra Pawar against Sule in the Lok Sabha polls. "Supriya is our younger sister and we have seen her grow up. However, Ajitdada did not relent and went ahead with his plans. When we told him not to field Sunetra against Supriya, our mother was there," Srinivas Pawar said.
Yugendra Pawar, on his part, admits that his debut political contest will not be easy despite the backing of Sharad Pawar. "I don't think it will be tough but I don't even think that it will be easy either. But initially Pawar Sahab was supporting Ajit Pawar, we fondly call him Dada but people of Baramati in large numbers are behind Pawar Sahab and that is what they showed in Lok Sabha. They will show this in the upcoming assembly as well as other elections also," Yugendra told news agency ANI.
The young Pawar feels the political battle within the family is "sad and unfortunate." However, he puts the blame for this on Ajit Pawar, who rebelled against the family patriarch.
"I feel it is quite sad, quite unfortunate that this had to come in the family. It all started in Lok Sabha and until then we were always together. Even the incumbent MLA (Ajit Pawar) was always under the guidance of the founder of the party and family patriarch Sharad Pawar Sahab. What happened all of India has seen. The party split and the symbol was given to them by the Election Commission," he said.
"This was unfortunate but all of us in the family decided that we need to stay with Pawar Sahab because he is the founder of the NCP, he is the patriarch of the family and it is because of him that not only Baramati but everybody around also prospered," Yugendra said.
Clearly, Ajit Pawar has a tough challenge ahead and the Maharashtra deputy chief minister will be forced to divide his time between focussing on his own seat and campaigning for other NCP candidates, who would be heavily dependent on him. Sharad Pawar, on the other hand, with the help of his daughter Supriya Sule will continue to keep the pressure on his estranged nephew by going all out for Yugendra's victory.
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