Pawar vs Pawar In Maharashtra, Supriya Sule takes on rebellious cousin’s wife

Mumbai:

In Maharashtra’s Baramati, a historic showdown awaits as the splintered National Congress Party (NCP) prepares for the death of party leader Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Minister Ajit Pawar in a unique ‘Pawar vs. Pawar’ contest between Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar, wife of the deputy chief.

Baramati in Pune district has grown over the years from a place facing devastating famine to a thriving agricultural, industrial and commercial centre. The Pawar family’s decades-long dominance has shaped the region’s political narrative. The influence of the Pawar family, whose political career dates back to the 1960s when he first won in this constituency, has been crucial to the shift.

family split

Two factions have emerged within the NCP, led by Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar, setting the stage for a dramatic electoral showdown. The founding faction of the NCP has nominated Supriya Sule, 54, while Ms Sule’s sister-in-law, Sunetra Pawar, 60, has also emerged as a candidate representing the rival faction Joined the competition.

On July 2 last year, Ajit Pawar, accompanied by eight MLAs of the NCP, aligned himself with the Eknath Shinde government, triggering a split within the NCP. . Divisions within the NCP left voters and party workers with a choice between the two Pawars.

“It will be a very difficult choice for voters and party workers to choose between the two Pawars,” news agency PTI quoted local leader Madan Devkate as saying. A competition they could never have imagined before July 2 last year.”

The Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, including the Baramati, Indapur, Daund, Purandhar, Bhor and Kadakwasla seats, has been Sharad Pawar’s stronghold since the 1960s .

Ajit Pawar has been representing Baramati as MLA since 1991 and secured a landslide victory in 2019 with a staggering 83 per cent vote share.

Supriya vs Sunetra

The Baramati Lok Sabha constituency consists of six constituencies: Baramati Town, Indapur, Daund, Purandhar, Bor and Kadawathra.

Among these segments, the Congress has influence over Bhol and Purandhar, while Baramati and Indapur have historically supported the Congress (before its split). The BJP has influence in Daund and Kadavasala.

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

NCP (SP) – Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) member Sharad Pawar’s faction will contest 10 seats in Maharashtra, which has 48 Lok Sabha seats, along with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress. The third phase of polling in Baramati is scheduled for May 7.

For 54-year-old Sule, this marks her first Lok Sabha election and the NCP’s support base will be divided between followers of her father and her cousin. While Sule is banking on the loyalty of Pawar family supporters and her record as a Lok Sabha representative, Ajit Pawar has access to the Shiv Sena cadre under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the BJP’s Extra support.

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

Ms. Surle contested for the Lok Sabha for the first time from Baramati in 2009, defeating the BJP nominee Kanta Nalawade by 3,36,831 votes. In 2014, when Rashtriya Samaj Paksha leader Mahadev Jankar contested against her, the gap dropped to 69,719. In 2019, Ms. Soule’s vote count soared to 686,714 people, with a vote rate of 52.63%, winning by more than 155,000 votes.

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

Sunetra Pawar was born into a politically active family in Marathwada. She is the sister of Padamsinh Patil, a former minister who initially belonged to the Congress party and later joined Sharad Pawar in 1999 National Communist Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar.