Members of the Pawar family on Sunday came together publicly for a programme in Pune’s Baramati taluk for the first time after current Deputy CM and rebel Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar split the NCP which is led by his uncle Sharad Pawar.
The 82-year-old Sharad Pawar was present alongside his nephew and daughter, NCP MP from Baramati, Supriya Sule. Also present were other members of the Pawar family.
The occasion was the inauguration of the Anantrao Pawar English Medium School in Daund (which is part of Baramati), named in memory of Ajit Pawar’s late father, Anantrao Pawar, who was Mr. Sharad Pawar’s older brother.
Mr. Pawar cut the ribbon to open the school. Ajit Pawar conspicuously avoided speaking to his uncle, though he was seen talking with his cousin Supriya Sule.
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Mr. Pawar praises nephew
Despite the tension between uncle and nephew, Mr. Sharad Pawar lauded the management of Ajit Pawar’s Pune District Education Association (PDEA) in his speech.
“Under Ajit’s leadership, the Pune Zilla Shikshan Sansthan (PDEA) has emerged as an exemplary educational body. One lakh students are learning there,” said the NCP patriarch, while listing the achievements of the educational bodies chaired by him, his daughter Supriya and his nephew Ajit.
Mr. Pawar recalled Anantrao Pawar’s inspiring and selfless personality. He made special mention of his older brother’s contribution in helping him become a legislator for the first-time in 1967.
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“I cannot forget Tatyasaheb’s [as Anantrao was affectionately known] contribution in getting me elected to the Maharashtra Assembly for the first time in 1967. I have to mention this,” said the NCP supremo.
Uncle and nephew were not seated together, with Sharad Pawar’s wife, Pratibha, and Ajit Pawar’s mother Ashatai Pawar, being seated between them.
Besides Ms. Sule, also present were Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, Rajendra Pawar, who is MLA Rohit Pawar’s father and Sharad Pawar’s younger brother, media baron and businessman Prataprao Pawar. There has been talk of Sunetra Pawar being pitted against Supriya Sule in the upcoming Baramati Lok Sabha contest in 2024.
Rohit, who is Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew, has remained on his grand-uncle’s side after the split and has been taking on Ajit Pawar.
The separation
On July 2 this year, Ajit Pawar, in a startling move, joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government splitting the NCP, while challenging his uncle for control of the party.
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Despite the political schism, the Pawar family has insisted that politics and personal relations were separate. Before the school’s inauguration, Ms. Sule stressed that the event should not be given any political colour as it was merely a social gathering.
Before the event, Mr. Sharad Pawar was asked whether the entire Pawar family would be gathering at the patriarch’s residence ‘Govind Baug’ (in Baramati) for Diwali this year.
“Have you any reason to think differently?” said Pawar senior, hinting that family gatherings would take place despite his nephew having taken a different political stance.
While this is the first time that so many members of the Pawar clan have appeared together publicly, Ajit Pawar shared the stage with his uncle in Pune when PM Modi had received the Lokmanya Tilak award in August.
