Mumbai: After delivering a strong message in the Lok Sabha polls, veteran politician Sharad Pawar is hoping to trounce his nephew Ajit Pawar in the upcoming assembly elections as well.
The 83-year-old leader went on a three-day tour to his hometown Baramati last week, visiting drought-affected villages and kickstarting his work for the Maharashtra elections slated in the next three to four months from now.
Buoyed by the success of the Lok Sabha elections where the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won 30 seats out of 48 in which his outfit had the best strike rate (winning 8 out of 10 seats), Pawar went to Baramati twice in two weeks — (12-13 June) and (18-20 June) — to break the citadel of his nephew, who is a legislator from Baramati since 1990s.
During the Lok Sabha election, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar gave ticket to his wife Sunetra Pawar from Baramati against his cousin and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule. But, Sule won by nearly 1.5 lakh votes.
“For Pawar to keep the momentum or tempo of Lok Sabha going, he had to hit the ground running immediately,” political analyst Abhay Deshpande told ThePrint.
“Plus, he is used to looking forward, and taking up the next assignment. And if he starts with Baramati, it is important for him to give out the message that he seriously means business. He did not want to confuse people into thinking whether the Pawar family will be back again.”
बारामतीच्या निरा वागज गावातील शेतकऱ्यांशी संवाद साधला..!
निरा वागज येथील अनेकांची साथ तालुक्याच्या राजकारणामध्ये आम्हा लोकांना मिळाली. माळेगाव साखर कारखाना सुद्धा तुमच्या गावासाठी महत्त्वाचा आहे. या गावातून अनेकांना मोठा करण्याच्या साठी प्रयत्न केला. त्यांना मोठमोठ्या जागा… pic.twitter.com/NjvrkrGDTy
— Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) June 19, 2024
In July 2023, Ajit Pawar along with senior leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare and a few MLAs broke away from the NCP and joined the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra.
During the Lok Sabha campaign, Ajit often taunted his uncle’s advanced age, saying some people are not ready to retire even though they are in their 80s.
In 2019, during the assembly campaign when he carried the opposition campaign on his shoulders, Pawar gave a speech at a rally in the rain — a moment that turned out to be a positive for the then Congress-NCP combine. And so there was a wide speculation over whether he will be able to repeat his performance in 2024.
However, Pawar time and again refuted these claims, saying that age is not a barrier. He asserted that there is no question of him hanging up boots and asserted that he remains effective, “whether 82 or 92”
At his birthday celebration in December, he complained that people pointing out his age should remember that he can “straighten people out and that he is not old enough.”
Also Read: 25 years and one rebellion later, original rebel Pawar shows he’s still a force to reckon with
Hits the ground running
Immediately a week after the Lok Sabha election results, Pawar reached Baramati where he met local workers.
Recently, NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal also remarked about how Pawar has started assembly campaigns and that the Mahayuti also needs to sort out the differences quickly.
This is not new for Sharad Pawar, Clyde Crasto, NCP-Sharad Pawar spokesperson, told ThePrint.
“He is a grassroot leader and believes in meeting people personally. So whether there are elections or not, it does not matter. So this is not new,” he said.
“But there are two reasons for this as well — he wants to thank people who voted for NCP especially after what has happened, and he also wants to thank those who stood by the real NCP.”
Pawar in his meetings with party workers and functionaries asked them to prepare for the assembly elections, one of the functionaries told ThePrint.
“He asked all of us to get ready for upcoming elections. We got good success in the Lok Sabha polls and our performance needs to be repeated again in assembly, he told us,” the functionary told ThePrint.
Although the seat-sharing talks have not begun yet among the MVA allies, Pawar hinted that he and his party won’t settle for less.
In his meetings with party workers and leaders, Pawar reviewed the situation in western Maharashtra, especially in assembly segments within Pune, Baramati, Maval and Shirur Lok Sabha constituencies
Meanwhile, the strategist that he is, Pawar has even hinted at keeping the doors open for rebels.
“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,” Pawar told the media Tuesday.
“However, that too will happen after having a word with the party (NCP-SP) leaders and workers. Their opinion needs to be respected. It will be a case by case issue and not a general decision.”
Deshpande thinks that some rebels waiting to return will wait until the assembly session gets over.
“And so Pawar clarified that even if he takes people back, it will be those who have not hurt him. This way he wants to make sure that people don’t get confused,” Deshpande added.
Baramati challenge
During his meets, Pawar was accompanied by Yugendra, the son of Ajit Pawar’s younger brother Shriniwas.
One of the challenges for Pawar is finding a suitable candidate who can challenge Ajit, a seven-time MLA, in Baramati.
Many workers had suggested fielding Yugendra against Ajit. Yugendra had campaigned for Sule in the Lok Sabha prestige battle.
A video made by party workers showed a group urging Pawar to stand behind Yugendra. One of them is heard saying that they wanted to “change” the `dada’. Both Ajit and Yugendra are called ‘dada’ (elder brother).
However, Yugendra while not rejecting the demand said that Pawar will make the final decision.
“The party workers made significant efforts during the elections and are now expressing their wish because of my work in this area,” Yugendra told reporters Thursday.
“But we have not considered it seriously yet. I have not thought about (contesting the assembly election). The decision will be made by Saheb (Sharad Pawar), Patil Saheb (state unit chief Jayant Patil), the party, party workers, and Supriya Tai (Sule),” he added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Smarting from Lok Sabha debacle, Ajit Pawar’s NCP keen to prove its mettle in Maharashtra polls