NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar meet at a temple in Baramati tehsil, in Pune.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Mumbai: It’s final now-it's going to be a Pawar vs Pawar battle in Baramati, one of the most-high profile seats in Maharashtra in Lok Sabha elections.
The Pawar family under the leadership of patriarch Sharad Pawar has been controlling politics in the region for several decades.
However, this time two members of the Pawar clan would be battling it out- Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar in what would be a battle between two alliances- the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi vs the ruling Maha Yuti.
While Sunetra is the wife of Ajit Pawar, the state’s Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President, Supriya Sule is daughter of Sharad Pawar, who now leads NCP (SCP).
The situation in Baramati has changed since the June-July, 2023, when Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle and mentor Sharad Pawar and walked over to the BJP-led NDA camp.
At a rally of the MVA in Bhor in Pune on Saturday evening, Sharad Pawar formally announced the candidature of Supriya Sule, who has been representing Baramati for the last three terms.
“…Today I announce Supriya Sule’s nomination for Baramati Lok Sabha seat which she has previously represented thrice…her name comes in the first few of being best parliamentarians. I urge you to elect the best parliamentarian,” said Sharad Pawar, a four-time Maharashtra Chief Minister and three-term union minister.
On Sunday, Ajit Pawar’s aide and state NCP President Sunil Tatkare confirmed that Sunetra Pawar would be the party’s candidate. “NCP leaders and party workers want Sunetra Pawar to contest from Baramati…the declaration of her name is a mere formality. Once the seat sharing of Maha Yuti is announced and we get the Baramati seat, we would formally make the appropriate announcement,” said Tatkare, the NCP MP from Raigad.
For nearly a month, both Sunetra Pawar and Supriya Sule held a series of meetings in the Pawar-family stronghold.
Incidentally, the two ladies came face to face at the Kamleshwar temple in Jalochi village on the auspicious occasion of MahaShivratri and hugged each other.
Sunetra Pawar’s brother is Dr Padmasinh Patil, a former Maharashtra minister.
In the 2019 polls, Supriya Sule trounced BJP candidate Kanchan Kul - the wife of MLA Rahul Kul - by a margin of 1,57,000 votes.
Sharad Pawar is a six-term Lok Sabha MP from Baramati, Supriya Sule is a three-term MP from Baramati. Ajit Pawar, a seven-term MLA from Baramati, had represented the Baramati Lok Sabha seat for one term.