Another Pawar family member set to make poll debut

Another member of the influential Pawar family is set to make electoral debut. NCP founder-president Sharad Pawar's grand nephew Rohit Pawar is preparing to contest the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls from Karjat Jamkhed in Ahmednagar district.

Rohit (34) is the fifth member of the Pawar family to join electoral politics. Pawar (78) himself had been in politics for over five decades having been the Maharashtra chief minister four times, leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and union minister handling portfolios like defence and agriculture.

Pawar's nephew, Ajit Pawar (60), had been a former Maharashtra deputy chief minister and handled ministeries like power, water resources. He is son of Anantrao Pawar, the elder brother of Pawar.

Pawar's daughter, Supriya Sule (50) is a four-term MP, thrice representing Baramati in Lok Sabha and before that a Rajya Sabha member.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Pawar launched his grand nephew Parth Pawar (29), but he lost the elections from Maval seat. Parth is son of Ajit Pawar. And now it is Rohit, who is the son of Rajendra Pawar. Rajendra is son of Pawar's brother Appasaheb Pawar.

Rohit is the president of Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). He is also a member of Pune Zilla Parishad.

He has tweeted pictures of his uncle Ajit campaigning for him. "...got tremendous response," he tweeted. Rohit is contesting from Ahmednagar district, which currently is the stronghold of BJP.