Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Baramati braces up for 'Battle of Pawars' again

The fight is between sitting MLA and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his nephew Yugendra Pawar.

Mumbai: The hustling-bustling  town of Baramati in Pune district would once again witness a high-voltage Pawar-vs-Pawar electoral battle.

Akin to the Lok Sabha polls, the focal point of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections would also be Baramati, which is synonymous with the Pawar-family. 

It’s final now - that the fight is between Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President Ajit Pawar (65) and his nephew Yugendra Pawar (32), who has been nominated by Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). 

Ever since the June-July 2023 rebellion by Ajit Pawar against Sharad Pawar, politics have changed in Baramati.

Five-time Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is a one-time MP from Baramati, and seven-time MLA from the same place . 

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Ajit Pawar fielded his wife Sunetra Pawar in Baramati against Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, who won the polls for the fourth time. Sunetra Pawar was later accommodated as Rajya Sabha member.

Maharashtra NCP (SP) President Jayant Patil made the announcement on Thursday evening in Pune city. 

“I want to thank Pawar Saheb for giving me the opportunity,” Yugendra Pawar said thanking his grand-father Sharad Pawar and the NCP (SP) leadership.

Asked about the uncle-nephew fight, Yugendra Pawar, who was in Baramati, said: “It is unfortunate…in the Lok Sabha elections they fielded (Sunetra Pawar against Supriya Sule)…once the arrow is out, you can't take it back.” 

According to Yugendra Pawar, there are several uses like water crisis, corruption, increase in crime, particularly crime against women, education. “We will address the issues under Pawar Saheb’s guidance,” he said. 

When Patil was asked about the uncle-nephew fight, he said: “The question is not applicable to me…We don’t see other’s candidates and declare our candidates…In Baramati, there was a demand by locals that Yugendra be fielded…besides, he is young, educated…people want such candidates.” 

Yugendra Pawar is son of Ajit Pawar's brother Shrinivas Pawar. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Northeastern University, Boston. Yugendra Pawar is the Treasurer of Vidya Pratishtan, an educational institute founded by Sharad Pawar.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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