In Pawar vs Pawar battle for Baramati, echoes of a larger war for Maharashtra

Most people said they would not like to choose between one Pawar and another. “If Supriya loses we will not feel good,” said a young woman running a small tea shop in Malegaon.

But the fight is not really between tai and vehini. It is really between “saheb”, as Sharad Pawar is universally known and “Dada”, as Ajit is called. It is the battle for supremacy in the NCP and for the political space it has occupied since Pawar broke away from the Congress in 1998 after Sonia Gandhi’s rise. The NCP split last year after Ajit exited with 41 of 53 MLAs to join the BJP-led government in the state. The NCP name and symbol (clock) are also with Ajit now after the Election Commission (EC) ruled in its favour. Though the matter is in court, Ajit is allowed to use the symbol if he adds the disclaimer that the matter is sub judicem.  The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) has been given the “tootari” or trumpet symbol.

Though Ajit seemingly has control of the organisation, popular sympathy seemingly remains with Pawar. “It is huge sympathy,” remarked a housewife in Baramati. “How can we inflict pain on Saheb towards the end of his life when he has done so much for us?” A farmer in Mulshi taluka said, “Ajit Pawar should never have left Saheb’s side, and we know he left because of ED. Pawar does not have a son, only a daughter. After all, it was Saheb who gave Ajit Dada the opportunity to do what he has been able to do.”

Virtually every Baramati resident conceded that Ajit “dada” had done “kaam (work)” for the constituency. As he addressed more than a thousand Muslims gathered in Baramati to give them “manzoori” or promissory documents for loans — the first of eight rallies he addressed during the day — talking to the Muslim women I found many of them speak of Ajit’s efforts to do “logon ke kaam (people’s work)” and his easy access.  “During Covid, I lost my husband. I  have three children. Nobody came to see me. Only Ajit Dada came, to find out what help I needed,” said one person.

Thanks to the Pawar uncle and nephew duo, the taluka town pulsates with drive and energy — modern residential buildings, a new bus station with facilities akin to those available at an airport,  wide tree-lined avenues, no open drains, and well-known educational institutions for biotechnology, agriculture and engineering to which people from across the state and beyond aspire to go. “Thanks to the education they received in Baramati, my three children are employed today in Apple, Facebook, and IBM in the USA,” said a homemaker.

आपल्या राष्ट्रवादी काँग्रेस पक्ष- शरदचंद्र पवार पक्षाच्या वतीने महाविकास आघाडीची अधिकृत उमेदवार म्हणून पक्षाचे प्रदेशाध्यक्ष जयंतरावजी पाटील यांनी मला बारामती लोकसभा मतदारसंघातून उमेदवारी जाहिर केली. हि संधी माझ्यासाठी जनतेचे आशीर्वाद, विश्वास आणि प्रेम यांच्या बळावर मिळाली. हि… pic.twitter.com/z0VBw0QuHh

— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) March 30, 2024

A Pawar versus Pawar fight poses a “dharam sankat (dilemma)” for many because they are also really worried that “both sides will somehow get to know how we have voted”. Unlike the party, the Pawar clan — they meet every year at a family get-together — is with the senior Pawar. Even Ajit’s older brother Shrinivas recently hit out at him and spoke about “how much we owe Saheb”. Srinivas’s son Yugender said he would support Supriya.

Why BJP pulling out all stops

All eyes are on Baramati today not only as a widely followed political soap opera with a star cast involving one of Maharashtra’s important political families. It also epitomises the larger battle that is being waged for the control of the state. It is a state high on the BJP’s radar because of its 48 Lok Sabha seats and is one where the BJP does not seem assured of what is going to happen despite the splits in the Shiv Sena and the NCP.

The BJP-led ruling Mahayuti alliance has been pulling out all stops to gain strength in the state. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, though a rival of Ajit Pawar, has gone out of the way to undo the moves put in place by Pawar to secure Supriya’s victory. Pawar has reached out to Mahadev Jhankar, an important leader of the Dhangad community (around 22% in Baramati) who stood Supriya in 2014. To secure Dhangads’ support, the veteran leader has offered him support in the neighbouring constituency of Mhada. Fadnavis, however, brought Jhankar over to the NDA side with the promise of a Lok Sabha constituency and photos of the two men embracing each other went viral.

Fadnavis also brought around Ajit’s bitter opponents such as Vijay Shivtare in the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena who had announced that he would contest from Baramati.

If Supriya wins, it will reinforce Pawar’s position as the “Bhishma Pitamah” of Maharashtra politics and one of the most experienced figures in Indian politics. If Ajit ends up besting his uncle, he will, in the words of a political wag, “hope to become the Himanta Biswa Sarma of Maharashtra”. A defeat for his wife, on the other hand, will be a setback and the Marathas, a proud community, will see it as his inability to safeguard his home turf.

The “Battle for Baramati” has divided the Pawar family and the constituency identified with them for half a century. It has also divided Maharashtra politics as never before. Baramati is also a testing ground. Will Sharad Pawar’s politics of more than five decades — the display of shrewdness coupled with a style of building inclusive and coalitional alliances in the backroom — remain relevant before the new, agency-driven, no-holds-barred politics that is evident today?

(Neerja Chowdhury, Contributing Editor, The Indian Express, has covered the last 10 Lok Sabha elections. She is the author of How Prime Ministers Decide)