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Journalism of Courage
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads one faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), on Sunday raised the pitch for the prestigious Baramati Lok Sabha seat, a traditional Pawar family bastion, as he urged voters not to fall prey to his uncle Sharad Pawar’s emotional appeal that it would be his last election.
“It is my last election… Such an emotional appeal will be made… Don’t know when will it be the last election,” Ajit Pawar said while addressing a rally in Baramati, his hometown. During campaigning for the 2019 elections, Sharad Pawar had hinted that it would be his last.
Urging citizens and party workers to listen to him and not to Sharad Pawar, Ajit said, “Baramatikars will have to face a difficult situation in future. They will be told to do as Ajit Pawar says or senior (Sharad Pawar) says. Whom should the Baramatikar listen to? However, my only appeal to you is that till date you have done as seniors told you… Now you should listen to me.”
“If the MP of my ideology gets elected, we will take our development plans to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and get their approval… The country’s Prime Minister and Home Minister are supporting us and therefore there will be no hurdles in getting development plans going.”
Ajit’s statement assumes significance as the BJP, the NCP’s alliance partner, is pushing him hard to field a candidate against his cousin, Supriya Sule, who belongs to the NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction. Sule has won the Baramati Lok Sabha seat three consecutive times.
The name of Sunetra Pawar, Ajit’s wife, has also been doing the rounds for some time now as a possible candidate and Ajit has often evaded questions regarding the same.
Imtiaz Shaikh, former Baramati city chief of the NCP, said, “From Ajit dada’s statement today, it is clear that his faction will contest the Baramati seat. And therefore he has urged party workers and citizens to support him and get an MP of his choice elected.”
MLA Jitendra Awhad who belongs to Sharad Pawar faction of NCP, severely criticised Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on his comment.
”Today, Ajit Pawar has crossed all limits. He seems to be waiting for his uncle’s death. Ajit Pawar, are you waiting for Sharad Pawar to die ? …I feel ashamed to have worked with a person like,” Awhad told ABP Majha, a Marathi news channel
Stating that Ajit Pawar had stooped very low, Awhad said,”I had never seen such dirty politics in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar has taken politics to extremely low level. The people of Maharashtra and Baramati will show Ajit Pawar his place.”
