Baramati, a bastion of Sharad Pawar's family, is likely to witness a high-stakes electoral battle in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife, Sunetra Pawar, being speculated as a candidate against his cousin and sitting MP, Supriya Sule.
Publicity campaign vehicles adorned with images of Ajit Pawar and Sunetra Pawar, alongside the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) symbol, are making rounds in Baramati. The banners carry the slogan 'One aim, all-round development,' albeit without explicit details regarding candidature or constituency.
Incidentally, Sunetra Pawar has been actively engaging with local leaders in the constituency. Notably, she recently paid a courtesy visit to Kanchan Kul, the BJP candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and wife of legislator Rahul Kul.
Speaking on the speculations of Sunetra Pawar's candidature against her, Supriya Sule said, "It is a democracy, so everybody has the right to contest."
Echoing similar sentiments, Sharad Pawar said that everybody has the right to present their side. "In a democracy, everyone has the right to stand in elections. If someone is exercising that right, then there is no reason to complain about it. We should put our position before the people. People know what we have done in the last 55-60 years," senior Pawar said. "If someone is running for Lok Sabha, then this is their right. They have the right to present their side. We accept this," he added.
Earlier on Friday, Ajit Pawar made an emotional appeal to his constituents to elect a “first-timer”.
The Deputy CM said, “I am going to put up a candidate in Baramati because we want to be part of the ruling alliance to enable development work in the constituency. It is clear that Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister for the third time from the way he has got the Ram Mandir constructed and carried out development work across the country."
“The party cadre should reach out to voters and tell them that my candidate will do more work than the MP (Sule) elected from Baramati in the last three terms. This is my word," he added. Taunting Sule, Pawar said, “Issues cannot be resolved merely by making speeches in the Parliament and not doing work in constituencies. I continue to meet citizens regularly and listen to the citizens.”
Pawar said he would make the announcement of his candidate from Baramati after the seat-sharing arrangement of Mahayuti is declared.
Sunetra Pawar is the founder of the Environmental Forum of India, an NGO founded in 2010, and serves as a trustee for the indigenous and well-known educational institution Vidya Prathishthan. She has been a Think Tank member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum in France since 2011. Her brother is a senior politician and former minister, Padamsinh Patil. While Sule has represented the constituency three consecutive times since 2009 and was a Rajya Sabha member before that from 2006 to 2009.
