‘Mission Baramati’: Pawar in its crosshairs, BJP ups the ante, takes battle to his fortress

As part of its “Mission Baramati”, the BJP has made it clear that it will leave no stones unturned in its bid to breach the virtually impregnable NCP bastion that the Pawar family has been retaining for more than three decades. By taking its battle to Baramati, the saffron party has also sought to send out a larger message at the national level, given the fact that Pawar is among the tallest Opposition leaders in the country.

Both the state BJP and its ally, the rebel Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, have been targeting the Pawar family for the past few weeks. It started with the BJP leaders indicating the possibility of central probe agencies’ action against NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, who is Pawar Senior’s grandnephew. Later, the Shinde Sena spokespersons took aim at both Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar, the NCP chief’s nephew, as well as Sule.

The new state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule visited Baramati this week and mounted a sharp attack on Sharad Pawar. Asserting that nothing is permanent in politics and that leaders’ strongholds too get demolished some day, he said the BJP was aiming to bag over 400 seats in the country in the 2024 elections, which will include, he claimed, Baramati.

The BJP leadership has asked Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to oversee the party’s preparations in Baramati as part of which she will repeatedly visit the constituency.

On “Mission Baramati”, deputy CM and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said the party will have its “Mission India” and “Mission Maharashtra”. “And since Baramati is part of Maharashtra, winning it is part of Mission Maharashtra,” he said.

During her upcoming three-day visit to Baramati, Sitharaman will hold street corner meetings and interact with party workers and local people to assess the implementation of various central schemes there.

To further enthuse its rank and file, the BJP has been projecting its triumph in the Gandhi family bastion Amethi, where party leader Smriti Irani trounced top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 polls. Irani had successfully used the plank of “dynasty and non-development” against Rahul in that election.

Pawars’ turf might be however a different ball game for the saffron party. Unlike Amethi, Baramati is considered to be a “development model” which has been acknowledged by leaders across the political spectrum including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi has visited Baramati a couple of times in recent years, shared dais with Pawar and lauded his development work, especially in the agriculture sector.

Pawar represented Baramati in the Lok Sabha continuously from 1991 to 2009 and Sule has been winning the seat since.

However, Bawankule said, “When you have a strong organisation it empowers the cadre to face bigger challenges,” adding that the BJP will fully use its strength to fight the NCP in its stronghold.

Ridiculing Bawankule, state NCP chief Jayant Patil said the former himself could not get a party ticket in the 2019 Assembly polls. “It is impossible to separate people of Baramati from Pawars. They will continue to win from Baramati with increased vote margin,” he said.

Some observers say that the BJP’s decision to go after Pawars in Baramati could be less about defeating them and more to keep them engaged in local politics there. The BJP has already made inroads by winning two out of six Assembly constituencies in Baramati. The party’s aggressive, high-voltage campaigning and its well-oiled propaganda machinery would keep Pawars on their toes, pinning them to their home ground.

Pawar has been a key architect of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, comprising of the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP, that formed the government in Maharashtra in November 2019, with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray taking over as the CM. In June this year, the BJP managed to topple the MVA government in collaboration with the rebel Shinde Sena to form their own government.

However, the 81-year-old NCP supremo continues to be one of the leading lights of the Opposition against the BJP in state and national politics. By targeting Baramati, the BJP might be looking to checkmate him at both levels.