Stressing that he had “not stolen” his uncle Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said the high-stakes Baramati Lok Sabha contest was not an “emotional fight”.
Addressing a rally in Baramati while campaigning for his wife Sunetra Pawar, the ruling Mahayuti’s candidate, Mr. Ajit said hitherto, funds from the Centre had not flowed into Baramati and a number of development projects were stalled.
“Think of your future generations while casting your vote. Henceforth, funds will flow from the Centre. Our aim is to re-elect Narendra Modi as Prime Minister for the third term. It is to this end we have set aside past political rivalries [alluding to Shinde Sena leader Vijay Shivtare and BJP’s Harshavardhan Patil] and have come together,” said Mr. Ajit, who split his uncle’s party in July last year to align with the ruling BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Ms. Pawar is pitted against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, who is Mr. Sharad’s daughter and the incumbent Baramati MP.
In a jibe at his uncle and cousin, Mr. Ajit said: “Today, I have taken a different stance [in allying with the BJP]. But it is not just me, but senior leaders like Praful Patel, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Chhagan Bhujbal along with 80% of the NCP’s MLAs who are with us. Hence, the Election Commission has awarded us the symbol and party name. But some people are trying to make this an emotional affair by calling us thieves.”
Saying that neither he nor Mr. Shinde, whose revolt had split Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, had stolen their respective parties, Mr. Ajit said he and Mr. Shinde were the people who did the real work on the ground.
Lauding Mr. Modi’s vision and his initiatives such as scrapping of Article 370, Mr. Ajit said only the Mahayuti coalition was capable of ensuring all-round development in the State.
Baramati goes to polls in the third phase on May 7. Both Ms. Pawar and Ms. Sule are expected to file their nominations on April 18.
