Amid the rebellion in the 25-year-old Sharad Pawar-founded NCP, Karjat-Jamkhed MLA Rohit Pawar is leading the charge and going full steam against the rebels.
Rohit’s stance assumes significance after the rebellion by Ajit Pawar, who has now become deputy chief minister and has claimed the party and the clock symbol.
Rohit (38) is the grand-nephew of Pawar (82) and nephew of Ajit Pawar (63) and the party’s working president Supriya Sule (54).
Rohit is the son of Rajendra Pawar and grandson of the late Appasaheb Pawar, the brother of Sharad Pawar.
The parent NCP’s charge is now led by Supriya, Rohit and state unit president Jayant Patil.
Rohit is the CEO of Baramati Agro Ltd and served as the president of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) from September 2018 to 2019. Rohit is the current president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA).
Now an MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in the Ahmednagar district defeating Prof Ram Shinde, who is close to BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, Rohit is not new to politics- and had started off in 2017 when he won a seat in the Pune Zilla Parishad.
“It is an emotional moment for me,” Rohit said just after the split.
"They know they cannot win elections without the name of Sharad Pawar. That's why they are using this name,” he said ahead of the party’s show of strength.
Now he is going full steam on social media platforms on the issue - starting off with a full profile of Pawar, the posts that he held and his contribution to society.
After this, Rohit posted profiles of Praful Patel, Dilip Walse-Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal - and pointed out how they say that injustice has been meted out to them.
Patel has been a member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and served as the civil aviation minister in the Congress-led UPA government and has been the NCP working president. Besides, he had been the president of the All India Football Federation.
Walse-Patil, a senior MLA, had been the speaker of the Assembly and held portfolios like energy, higher and technical education, medical education, finance, planning, home, and excise.
Bhujbal had been MLA and MLC, had been deputy chief minister and leader of the opposition in the Council and had held portfolios like housing, revenue, slum rehabilitation, public works, food and civil supplies.