NCP split will have bearing in Pune and Western Maharashtra

The region has 10 of the state's total 48 Lok Sabha seats and 60-odd Vidhan Sabha seats. Baramati, the bastion of the Pawar family, is located in the Pune district.

The vertical split in the 25-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will have an impact in the Pune district and Western Maharashtra region, from where the party wins its largest share of seats.

This is going to be the biggest challenge for the Sharad Pawar-Supriya Sule faction as well as the Ajit Pawar-Praful Patel faction.

Western Maharashtra region, which comes under the Pune revenue division and comprises the districts of Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Solapur, is known for its sugar-belt politics.

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Baramati, the traditional bastion of the Pawar family, is located in the Pune district.

The region has 10 of the state's total 48 Lok Sabha seats and 60-odd Vidhan Sabha seats.

The Lok Sabha MPs of NCP from the region are Supriya Sule (Baramati), Dr Amol Kolhe (Shirur) and Dr Shrinivas Patil (Satara).

Ajit Pawar confidante Sunil Tatkare represents Raigad, which falls in the neighbouring Konkan region.

As far as the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is concerned, the NCP won 19 and 27 seats in 2014 and 2019 respectively from this region.

Pune district is important for the party as it houses two big corporations - the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).

The Pune district has 14 tehsils - Haveli, Pune city, Maval, Mulshi, Shirur, Baramati, Indapur, Daund, Bhor, Velha, Purandar, Khed, Junnar, Ambegaon and three cantonment boards - Pune, Dehu Road, Khadki.

“Western Maharashtra was a traditional bastion of the Congress. However, after the formation of the NCP, the party dominated the politics of the region and continues to do so, although the BJP has made inroads,” political observers said, adding that the influence the party yields is owed almost single-hnadedly to the Pawar family.

Sharad Pawar, who was earlier an MP from Baramati, had been an MP from Madha as well. His daughter Supriya Sule currently represent Baramati in the Lok Sabha, a constituency she has won three times. Ajit Pawar is currently serving his seventh term as the NCP MLA from Baramati.

The Maratha community votebank is the most important in the region, and for years, the community has stuck with the Congress and the NCP.

When Maharashtra goes for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls in 2024, the region will witness a big fight as both uncle and nephew will try to woo voters in the region, which plays an important role in the state's politics.