On 18th April 2024, three-term MP Supriya Sule filed her nomination for Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra’s Pune District on the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) faction ticket.
The daughter of one the tallest leaders of Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule will be pitted against her sister-in-law, debutant Sunetra Pawar, wife of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar. The polling for this crucial high-octane battle is due on the 7th of May 2024.
The Pawar family led by veteran leader Sharad Pawar himself, which has been a dominant force on Maharashtra’s political landscape is now set to witness an unprecedented in-house battle making it one of the most prestigious ones in the 2024 General Elections.
Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency is made up of six assembly segments namely Daund, Bhor Indapur, Purandar, Khadakwasla, and Baramati. Let’s analyze how the political equations work out for both the Pawars.
1. Daund – Subash Kul & family have been a dominant force in the Daund region with Subhash Kul himself a three-term MLA along with his wife Ranjana a one-term MLA with Indian National Congress and later with the undivided NCP. The Kul family’s dominance was something not to the liking of the Pawar Senior. In 2009 when Subhash Kul’s son Rahul contested on NCP ticket it is rumored that Sharad Pawar threw his weight behind Ramesh Thorat, a rebel NCP leader who fought on an independent ticket. Thorat did manage to defeat Kul in 2009 but Rahul Kul had his revenge against Thorat & Pawars by winning 2014 on RSP ticket with BJP’s support & 2019 assembly elections on a BJP ticket. Considering the past, the Kul family who are now with the BJP will ensure that Sunetra Pawar gets a lead from their region and have the last laugh.
2. Bhor – Anantrao Thopte an arch-rival of Sharad Pawar a six-term INC MLA before losing his seat again at the behest of Sharad Pawar in 1999. Thoptes and Pawars have often been fighting elections against each other for a few decades for dominance of District Cooperative Banks & Milk Federations. His son Sangram is the current Congress MLA, but he too has been a victim of Pawar Politics when he was denied a chance to be the speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 2021 during the Uddhav Thackrey-led MVA Government. Sharad Pawar paid a visit to Thopte’s residence in Bhor last week to patch up and win some support for the sake of his daughter. Though INC & Sharad Pawar NCP are in alliance it is very difficult that the Thoptes will be interested in helping and will see this Pawar Vs Pawar duel as a good chance to exact some revenge.
3. Indapur – A stronghold of former INC leader Harshvardhan Patil who won this seat between 1995-2009 often locking horns with Ajit Pawar during his entire career. He lost two consecutive elections in 2014 & 2019 being defeated by a NCP candidate. Unable to take on the Pawar heat, he later went on to join BJP in 2019. Though Ajit Pawar NCP and BJP are now in alliance, Patil opposed the candidature for Sunetra Pawar and raised an issue with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis who then arranged a meeting of Patil & Ajit Pawar at his official residence in Mumbai. Immediately after that, Devendra Fadnavis addressed a rally in Indapur in support of Sunetra Pawar. Patil is trying to secure a political future for his daughter Ankita and will ensure that he garners maximum votes for Sunetra Pawar and stays in the good books of the BJP.
4. Purandar- Vijay Shivtare a two-term MLA with undivided Shiv Sena (2009 & 2014) and a close confidante of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has had a bitter relationship with Ajit Pawar who publicly vowed to defeat Shivtare just before the 2019 assembly elections and managed to do halting the winning streak of Shivtare. When Sunetra Pawar’s candidacy was announced Shivtare vehemently opposed it and threatened to file for nomination as an independent candidate. It was only after a personal intervention from CM Shinde & DCM Fadnavis that Vijay Shivtare buried the hatchet & is now seen actively supporting and campaigning for Sunetra Pawar.
5. Khadakvasla – An assembly segment close to Pune City has BJP’s Bhimrao Tapkir as its incumbent MLA since 2011 and is seen as a segment where Ajit Pawar NCP will manage a comfortable lead with the help of its ally BJP.
6. Baramati – A home assembly segment and the residence of both Pawars, Baramati has always been an Ajit Pawar fortress which has elected him as its MLA since 1991. The local party cadre of NCP functionally reported to Ajit Pawar who ran the day-to-day operation while Sharad Pawar was out on the party’s national duties. So it is quite natural that the local cadre will stand behind Ajit Pawar which now in hindsight is a headache for Supriya Sule as she finds herself on the back foot in her town.
Overall, the odds seem to be stacked against Supriya Sule and Sharad Pawar probably stares the first defeat in his entire political career on his ground. The battle is not only fought on the ground but there are some mind games at play too. Initially Ajit Pawar in a rally appealed to citizens to vote for a candidate with a “Pawar” surname. Responding to it Sharad Pawar as shrewd as he is known to be, hit back at his daughter-in-law Sunetra Pawar by calling her an ‘outsider’ and sentimentally appealing to voters in his rallies to vote for his daughter Supriya who he believes is the ‘real’ Pawar.
Whoever wins this battle, one thing is clear that Sharad Pawar’s past political actions have come back to haunt him. He managed to dodge the political odds during the last assembly elections of 2019 by garnering sympathy following his famous rally speech amidst heavy rains in Satara. Will the old political warhorse manage to beat the odds once again? This outcome will decide whether the current political equations in Maharashtra stay or will witness a major upheaval yet again. Only the 4th of June can tell!
