Mumbai, June 12 The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday decided to nominate party chief and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar for the Rajya Sabha bypoll to be held on June 25.
Sunetra Pawar’s name was finalised at a meeting convened by Ajit Pawar with the party ministers at his official residence in Mumbai.
Incidentally, Sunetra Pawar lost to her sister-in-law and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule from Baramati in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections.
Sunetra Pawar will file her nomination on Thursday, the last date for filing nominations.
With her nomination, the party has taken a conscious decision to rehabilitate her ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections likely to be held in October this year.
The party’s move is aimed to checkmate NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his party MP Supriya Sule in Baramati in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
While Ajit Pawar is likely to contest from Baramati in the Assembly elections, the NCP (SP) is promoting Yogendra Pawar, his nephew, against the NCP chief.
At Wednesday's meeting, NCP Working President Praful Patel proposed Sunetra Pawar’s name and asked the ministers to express their views.
Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde supported Patel’s proposal, saying that it would boost the morale of the party cadres, especially in Baramati following the defeat of Sunetra Pawar in the general elections.
However, senior NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who was an aspirant for a Rajya Sabha nomination, said that while he has no objections to Sunetra Pawar’s nomination, why was a parliamentary board meeting not called to recommend her name?
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