Pune: NCP (SP) Workers Feel Sharad Pawar Shouldn't Have Fielded Candidate Against Ajit Pawar In Baramati

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar filed his nomination from the Baramati seat for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly polls on Monday. His two sons, Parth and Jay, were present on the occasion. Meanwhile, his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar also filed his nomination earlier in the day without much fanfare. He was accompanied by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Sharad's daughter Supriya Sule, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Baramati.

Speaking after Yugendra's nomination, Sharad Pawar said, "He is highly educated. He has studied administration and business, and he is knowledgeable about these matters. Therefore, the party has given him this opportunity. I am sure the people of Baramati will accept this new and young leadership, as they have supported me for the last 57 years."

Sule expressed her belief that Yugendra's nomination was beneficial for the party, helping it rejuvenate by creating a balance of new ideas and deep experience. She said, "Yugendra is like my child. It is wonderful for me that our children are trying to do something. You have to take everything in stride because it has never been a personal fight for me; it is an ideological battle."

On the other hand, Ajit Pawar stated, "Everyone has the right to contest. Whenever any candidate is fielded against me, I consider them a strong opponent and campaign accordingly. This time too, the people of Baramati will elect me, and I have faith in them."

Meanwhile, when The Free Press Journal spoke with a few party workers, they expressed that the senior Pawar should have shown a "bigger heart" and refrained from fielding a candidate against Ajit Pawar.

"Pawar Saheb should have shown a bigger heart and left the Baramati seat to Dada (Ajit). There was no need to field Yugendra and create another familial contest, especially given how ugly the fight became during the Lok Sabha polls," said one NCP (SP) worker. "Before the party split, the formula was that Dada would remain in the state while Tai (Sule) focused on the Centre. I don’t think there was a need to field Yugendra. Plus, if you look at the Lok Sabha polls, Dada was under pressure from the top BJP leadership to field a candidate against Tai, which is why he had fielded Vahini (Sunetra Pawar)," said another party worker. "We had thought that even after the Lok Sabha polls, the two factions would come together. There was still hope that they would join hands after the Assembly polls. But now, that hope has diminished," a third NCP (SP) worker stated.

When this newspaper spoke with NCP (SP) leaders, they indicated that fielding Yugendra was a strategic move by the senior Pawar. "By fielding Yugendra, Pawar Saheb has ensured that Dada will remain focused on his constituency and will have limited time to campaign elsewhere. Even if Yugendra loses, he is very young and will get another opportunity. This loss won’t damage his reputation; in fact, it will give him more confidence that he put up a strong fight against an opponent like Dada," said an NCP (SP) leader on the condition of anonymity.

NCP (SP) national spokesperson Anish Gawande added, "Our party believes that politics is a battle of ideologies, not a personal conflict. Yugendra, like Supriya Tai, will ensure that personal attacks are avoided, upholding the long-standing tradition of our party to keep politics focused on issues rather than individuals."