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Journalism of Courage
Among the 20 assembly seats in Pune district, Indapur is one which certainly would evoke interest from political observers. On one hand, sitting MLA Dattatray Bharne seeks to retain his winning streak while former minister Harshavardhan Patil hopes to regain his seat, which he has represented for four times.
Known for its pomegranate fields and sugar mills, Indapur’s politics is influenced by its neighbour Baramati with Sharad Pawar and his family exerting their clout here too. Before Ajit Pawar went his own way, the cold war between the Pawars and Patils was an open secret.
Patil had fought the elections both as an independent candidate as well as on a Congress ticket. His decision to join BJP in 2014 was mostly due to the then undivided NCP, especially Ajit Pawar’s refusal to part with this seat. Bharne had trounced Patil with comfortable margins both in the 2014 and 2019 Assembly elections.
After Ajit Pawar split the NCP, Bharne sided with him, which compounded Patil’s discomfort. Currently, Patil is the chairperson of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories – the apex body of cooperative sugar bodies in the country. Bharne had come into the limelight during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when a video of him threatening an NCP (Sharad Pawar) worker had gone viral.
Patil’s recent entry into the NCP (SP) has seen open rebellion from leaders such as Pravin Mane, Bharat Shah and Appasaheb Jagdale. Mane, who is a former NCP (Ajit Pawar) Zilla Parishad member, switched over to Sharad Pawar’s faction after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Jagdale, who is related to Patil, has claimed that he was promised the Indapur seat in 2019.
These leaders, who had either sided with Ajit Pawar during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections or were with Patil, have decided to oppose Patil’s candidature. Their ground is that they require someone who has been loyal to the NCP (Sharad Pawar) to contest the seat.
Indapur is one of the six assembly constituencies under Baramati and thus NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule has an interest in this constituency. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sule had a significant lead in Indapur, which Patil had claimed was his doing.
Sule’s win, Patil had claimed, was due to his ‘invisible’ hand but for his own elections, the visible signs of rebellion does not augur well for him. Bharne comes from the Dhangar community, which has a sizable presence in this area. If Patil is not able to assuage the rebellion in NCP (SP), Bharne has a significant advantage to make a hat-trick. Sule had already held meetings with the NCP(SP) leaders, who have opposed Patil’s candidature. All eyes will be on how they react.
