Deputy Chief Minister and head of NCP (AP), Ajit Pawar, has indicated that he might not be contesting in the upcoming assembly elections. “I am not interested, as I have contested seven to eight elections,” he said about Baramati, the bastion of the undivided Pawar family.
Ever since he broke away from his uncle Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar appears to be tottering; be it playing his part in the Mahayuti government or in efforts to consolidate his position as an astute politician. His recent statement, “I made a mistake by fielding my wife Sunetra against sister Supriya” was perceived as a patch-up bid in the political circles.
On Thursday, Ajit said it was for his party to decide whether his son Jay would contest from Baramati. Replying to a question by a media person on whether Jay would be fielded from Baramati as he himself is not interested, Ajit said, “It is democracy… If the people and supporters think so (that Jay would be fielded), the (NCP) parliamentary board will discuss it,” he said.
The statement, as expected, created a sort of stir among Ajit’s party workers and supporters. Sources said the leader is quite upset after his wife Sunetra lost miserably by 1.58 lakh votes. The biggest question before him seems to be how to fill up the gap of over 47,000 votes, the lead that Baramati gave to Supriya Sule in the recent Lok Sabha elections. It shook Ajit Pawar so much so, that he has recently asked all of his office bearers to resign to rebuild the local party unit, sources said.
The statements could also be a ploy to check the mood of the constituency, people close to him said. In saying that he made a mistake by fielding Sunetra, he might be sending out a message that in the upcoming state assembly elections, no one from the Pawar family should contest on NCP (SP) ticket.
He probably is also trying to assess the response to his younger son Jay when his elder son Parth failed to cut much ice after he lost the Maval Lok Sabha seat in 2019. Ajit Pawar is said to be looking for another constituency to fight and he may concentrate on Indapur, sources said.
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Rohit Pawar, grand-nephew of Sharad Pawar who represents the Karjat-Jamkhed constituency in the state assembly, recently claimed that someone from the family could be fielded against him. The Mahayuti is going to field candidates in my constituency to split votes. It was speculated that Ajit was under pressure to field someone from the family against Sule. Now, a similar strategy is being drawn up in my assembly constituency, he has said.
Meanwhile, state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare, while reacting to Ajit’s statement, has said that the leader did not say that he would not contest the coming assembly elections. “He could have some plans. We want to win as many seats as possible,” Tatkare has said.
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