'Why Should I Contest From Baramati?': Ajit Pawar Brings Up Emotional Card Ahead Of Maharashtra Assembly Polls; Says 'Seriously Considering Not Contesting'

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP Chief Ajit Pawar caused a stir at a public meeting in Baramati on Sunday. when he declared that he was seriously considering not contesting from Baramati in the upcoming assembly polls. Ajit Pawar has been an MP and MLA from Baramati without a break, since 1991 He was a member of Parliament from 1991 to 1995 from Baramati and since 1995, he has been an MLA from the constituency until now.

Baramati has been a Pawar family bastion for over 50 years with Sharad Pawar, his daughter Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar having represented the people of that constituency in the Lok Sabha and state assembly for five decades.

"I am seriously thinking about whether toreally contest from Baramati. In the recent elections, my party candidate lost the polls. If after all the development work that I have done for four decades and all the efforts I have taken for you yields this result for me, why should I contest from Baramati?” Ajit Pawar asked at a public meeting in Baramati in Pune on Sunday. This caused a huge commotion in the audience, with people shouting slogans demanding that Ajit Pawar should not leave Baramati and they would ensure his victory in the assembly polls this time in the upcoming polls.

NCP Likely To Field Ajit Pawar's Nephew From Baramati

There is a buzz in Baramati that the chief of NCP Sharad Chandra Pawar is likely to field one of his family members, mostly Ajit Pawar’s nephew Yugendra Pawar from the Baramati assembly constituency as the party’s candidate. Some weeks ago, Ajit Pawar had said publicly that he had erred in asking his wife Sunetra Pawar to contest against his cousin Supriya Sule, who won the recent Lok Sabha poll in Baramati. He said that he felt guilty for having caused a division in the family by making sisters-in-law contest against each other.

Earlier, speaking at a political rally in Gadchiroli in Vidarbha n Saturday, Ajit Pawar had referred to the subject once again, saying, “People dislike those who divide families. People did not like seeing how our family was divided in the last Lok Sabha polls. In Maharashtra’s political history, several influential families have been in politics and have held powerful positions. In most families, like the Mundes of Marathwada, Mohites of Solapur and Thackerays of Mumbai, there has been political division; however, the Pawar family stayed united for over 50 years till 2023, when Ajit Pawar split the family and claimed he was the real president of the NCP.”

For the past few weeks, political circles are abuzz whether Ajit Pawar will really withdraw from Baramati and contest from elsewhere, because he has expressed regret over the split in the Pawar family and has also said that he will avoid a Pawar vs Pawar fight on their home turf of Baramati. In this backdrop, Ajit Pawar publicly saying that he is seriously thinking of not contesting from Baramati has caused a turmoil in Baramati and Pune district, with rumours about where he will contest from, if not Baramati and who will contest from the latter seat if not Ajit Pawar.