Supriya Sule set for head-to-head battle against Ajit Pawar's candidate in Lok Sabha polls from Baramati

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has made a big announcement about the Lok Sabha Election 2024. "My guess is that the Lok Sabha elections will be announced in the first week of March 2024. We will contest the Lok Sabha seats of Satara, Shirur, Raigad, and Baramati," Pawar said. He made this announcement during the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) camp in Karjat.  

"We will be contesting in the four places we have - Baramati, Shirur, Satara, and Raigad. However, in other constituencies where Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena is strong, if the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also has strength, then we can discuss with the BJP and Shinde saheb to decide on sharing seats there," said Ajit Pawar.

NCP MPs in all four seats

Meanwhile, all four seats announced by Ajit Pawar to contest are currently occupied by NCP MPs. Among them, three belong to the Sharad Pawar group, and one is from the Ajit Pawar group. Supriya Sule from Baramati, Amol Kolhe from Shirur, and Shrinivas Patil from Satara are members of the Sharad Pawar faction. In the Raigad Lok Sabha, Sunil Tatkare is an MP of the Ajit Pawar faction. Today, it was announced that the Ajit Pawar group will contest all four seats.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar has declared his candidacy for all four seats, all currently held by NCP members. Three seats are under the Sharad Pawar faction, while one is from Ajit Pawar's camp. Supriya Sule in Baramati, Amol Kolhe in Shirur, and Shrinivas Patil in Satara belong to the Sharad Pawar faction. In Raigad Lok Sabha, Sunil Tatkare represents Ajit Pawar's camp. Today's announcement confirms that Ajit Pawar's group will contest all four seats, setting the stage for a direct contest between Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar's candidate, with no BJP involvement.

"We will collectively discuss and decide on seat sharing for the Lok Sabha. We have had some preliminary discussions with Amit Shah, Devendra Fadnavis, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, and Eknath Shinde. However, elections are currently ongoing in these five states. After that, we've decided to sit and follow a methodical approach. We will evaluate the elective merit, review the performance of workers in each area, and unite our strength behind the NDA,” Ajit Pawar further said.