Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar
| Photo Credit: PTI
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who led a rebellion in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded by his uncle, Sharad Pawar, expressed his regret on Tuesday (August 13) for making his wife Sunetra Pawar contest against his cousin Supriya Sule in the Lok Sabha election 2024.
Mr. Pawar, currently on a Statewide ‘Jan Samman Yatra’ as part of his mass outreach programme ahead of the Assembly polls that are expected to be held in or before October, said the decision to field his wife against Ms. Sule was taken by the NCP parliamentary board and not him.
Speaking to a Marathi news channel Jai Maharashtra on Tuesday, Mr. Pawar accepted that he made a mistake and said, “I love all my sisters. No one should allow politics to enter homes. I made a mistake in fielding Sunetra against my sister. This should not have happened. But the parliamentary board of NCP took the decision which I followed. Now I feel it was wrong,” Mr. Pawar said.
Asked whether there is a possibility to unite back with his uncle and cousin Ms. Sule, Mr. Pawar responded to The Hindu“I am very much part of Mahayuti but what I mean to say is that getting politics into your homes can only bitter relationships and no one should do that. I will always support my family members within my limited capacity after all we are family, and we should be there for each other.”
On ruling Mahayuti leaders from the BJP and Shiv Sena targeting his uncle, the NCP leader said his uncle was a veteran politician and a respected leader, the Mahayuti partymen must understand their speech and remarks before they speak. “Whenever we sit together, I voice my opinion on things I am not comfortable with,” Mr. Pawar said.
Battle of prestige
The Baramati seat in the Lok Sabha election had become a battle of prestige for the Pawars. Ms. Sule emerged as a winner for the fourth successive time by 1.5 lakh votes against her sister-in-law, Ms. Sunetra Pawar.
It is interesting to see a change of heart in Mr. Ajit Pawar who was all for ‘Pawar Vs Pawar’ during the Lok Sabha election held earlier this year. Mr. Pawar was critical of his cousin Ms. Sule and his uncle during his political rallies whereas Ms. Sule always maintained, “Anyone can contest elections in a democracy. This is not a family fight; it is a fight of ideologies.” In July 2023, Mr. Ajit Pawar along with a number of MLAs split the NCP and joined the Mahayuti government; later the Election Commission declared Mr. Ajit Pawar-led party as the real NCP.
Mr. Pawar also said that on the day of Raksha Bandhan on August 19, if his sisters were around and were at the same place, then he would surely celebrate the day with them.
