NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday announced the candidature of Supriya Sule from Baramati. Sule, will in all likelihood, take on her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Addressing an MVA rally in Bhor on Saturday, Sharad Pawar said, "I am announcing the candidature of Supriya Sule for Baramati Lok Sabha seat. Supriya is among the outstanding parliamentarians in the country. She was among the top two or three MPs, who had maximum attendance in Parliament. Here is a candidate who has won Sansad Ratna award seven times. It is your responsbility to get her elected," he said. Praising Congress MLA from Bhor Sangram Thopte, Pawar said, ''The people of Bhor elected Sangram Thopte. I want to tell Sangram Thopte that whatever he does for Bhor taluka, I will back him.'' Sule, who herself has started campaigning, has restrained herself from running down Sunetra Pawar, except once when she said she doesn't need her husband to deliver speeches. Sunetra Pawar on her part too has so far not attacked Sule. Ajit Pawar, on his part, has been very aggressive. He has made it clear to voters of Baramati that the constituency's development hinges on the election of candidate of his choice. "If you want development, then elect the candidate of my choice," he said. The announcement comes soon after Sule denied announcing her candidature from Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. She had however admitted that she had sought a party ticket and was waiting for the top leadership in the MVA to make the announcement. Claims of Sule announcing herself as the Lok Sabha candidate had started making rounds after she had uploaded a status on Whatsapp, which mentioned her as the candidate from the Baramati and bore the NCP (SharadChandra Pawar) party symbol of a man blowing a trumpet. Earlier, Sule told The Indian Express that Ajit Pawar is refusing to take her calls. "I want to take up development issues of Baramati with him, but he refuses to take my calls," said the Lok Sabha MP, who has been elected thrice from Baramati with a huge margin of votes. Sharad Pawar, on his part, is trying to rope in Mahadeo Jankar who heads Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and belongs to the Dhangar community, which has a sizeable presence in Baramati. Jankar had given Sule a tough fight in the 2014 Lok Sbha elections. Pawar had asked Jankar to join MVA and fight from Madha seat in Solapur district. Pawar criticises Modi While giving a speech during a rally in Bhor, Pawar criticised the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making promises but not living up to them. Taking a dig at PM Modi's 'guarantee', Sharad Pawar said, ''The Prime Minister is campaigning and promising guarantees.what happened to the guarantees he had given earlier? Modi had said he will bring back the black money from foreign countries and put it in the pockets of farmers. Not a single paisa returned from abroad. When farmers from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana landed on the Delhi border, the Prime Minister had no time for them. They endured cold, rain and searing heat, but the Prime Minister did not pay them any heed. That's why we have no faith in Modi's guarantee.'' Speaking about the issue of unemployment, Pawar said, "Whevere you go in the country, yougsters are desperately looking for a job.Instead of using the army of unemploymed youths for gainful work, the government is keeping them unemployed and making their lives miserable. There is no other option but to change the government running the country," he said.
