Mumbai: In a statement that sent ripples in Maharashtra’s political circles, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar displayed lack of enthusiasm to contest polls and said it is for his party, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), to decide whether his younger son Jay Pawar will contest from the Baramati seat in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha polls.
As the 65-year-old Ajit Pawar traverses through Maharashtra as part of Jan Salman Yatra, his statements are generating a buzz.
Over the last week, he had said that it was a wrong decision to field his wife Sunetra Pawar in the Lok Sabha seat of Baramati against his cousin sister Supriya Sule, who won the elections and that leaders of the Maha Yuti (NDA) must think before speaking about NCP (SP) supremo and his uncle Sharad Pawar.
Ajit Pawar has won the Lok Sabha seat of Baramati once and has been winning the Baramati Assembly seat for a record seven times - and in the last 35 years, he has been minister, Deputy Chief Minister five times and Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly.
Having revolted against his uncle in June-July 2023 followed by a debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, Ajit Pawar, who is the state’s Finance and Planning Minister, is on a mission to consolidate party ranks and files in the run up to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, expected around October.
Among the masses, the revolt and taking control of the real NCP party and iconic clock symbol has not gone down well. Sharad Pawar’s outfit is known as NCP (SP) and as the man-blowing-tutari symbol.
Incidentally, Sharad Pawar’s party is planning to field Yugendra Pawar, the son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother Sriniwas Pawar from Baramati.
In this backdrop, the statement of Ajit Pawar about his son Jay Pawar assumes significance.
“It is democracy. I am not interested in that (contesting elections) as I have contested seven or eight elections. If the people and supporters think so, the parliamentary board and the local party unit in Baramati that will decide the candidate for Baramati and take a call,” Ajit Pawar said to a question whether Jay Pawar would be contesting the elections.
However, later NCP Maharashtra unit President Sunil Tatkare said Ajit Pawar did not say that he would not contest the coming Assembly elections. "It is not only my wish but that of all of Maharashtra for him to lead the state. For that, he will have to contest the election,” he said.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Ajit Pawar's elder son, Parth Pawar was fielded by the then undivided NCP from Maval, however, he lost the elections.
Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew Rohit Pawar is an NCP (SP) MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed. Rohit Pawar is also the President of Maharashtra Cricket Association - and now leads the party’s charge against Ajit Pawar.