Pune, Aug 15 A buzz was sparked in the political corridors of Maharashtra after NCP and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that he has contested elections 7 to 8 times, and therefore, he is not keen to test his electoral fortunes in the upcoming Assembly polls from Baramati.
"I contested 7-8 times, but now I am not interested. I am ready to fulfill the wishes of the people of Baramati and the party workers. In a democracy, people's mandate is important. The party's Parliamentary Board will take a decision regarding the candidature of Jai Pawar (Ajit Pawar's son)," said the Deputy CM who has completed the first leg of his 'Jansanman Yatra' to project the MahaYuti government's slew of welfare and development schemes including Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana in the run up to the Assembly election.
The remarks also led to speculation that Ajit Pawar may pave the way for his younger son Jai to enter the electoral fray and try his luck by contesting the Assembly election from Baramati.
However, Ajit Pawar also underlined that the party's Parliamentary Board will take a decision on Jai Pawar's nomination.
His statement assumes significance as the NCP-SP led by his uncle Sharad Pawar is exploring an option of fielding Yugendra Pawar from the Baramati Assembly segment. Yugendra is the son of Sriniwas Pawar - the brother of Ajit Pawar.
Instead of taking on his nephew, Ajit Pawar may be considering nominating his son Jai against Yogendra which will in turn become a fight between two cousins instead of between an uncle and a nephew.
Ajit Pawar's fresh statement came days after he said that it was his mistake to field his wife Sunetra Pawar against his cousin Supriya Sule from Baramati constituency in the Lok Sabha elections.
Sunetra Pawar lost to Supriya Sule but was later elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Besides, Ajit Pawar's move to drop sufficient hints on not to contest from his home turf Baramati in the ensuing assembly election may be also to suggest that he may decide to contest from some other assembly segment, preferably Karjat Jamshed from Ahmednagar district against his estranged nephew and NCP-SP's sitting legislator Rohit Pawar.
The timing is crucial as Ajit Pawar and his party have ruled out the possibility of going back to the Sharad Pawar-led faction while reiterating that it has taken a conscious decision to align with MahaYuti and fight the forthcoming assembly election as its partner with allies BJP and Shiv Sena
Ajit Pawar's latest statement made state unit chief Sunil Tatkare issue a clarification on the NCP's stand on the matter.
"Ajit Pawar has not made a statement that he will not fight. His statement is being misconstrued for no reason. The NCP will contest the Assembly election under the leadership of Ajit Pawar in the MahaYuti (Grand Alliance). We are trying to figure out how to make the party more successful. I will discuss with our party president and let you know the exact purpose of Ajit Pawar's comment," he said.
"People of Baramati have faith in Ajit Pawar who has played an important role in changing the face of Baramati in the last 35 years," said Tatkare.
NCP-SP state unit chief Jayant Patil took a swipe at Ajit Pawar, saying that "the parliamentary board is none other than Ajit Pawar".
"It is their internal issue. Who is the parliamentary board? It is Ajit Pawar. I don't know if anyone else is on their parliamentary board. Ajit Pawar said he is not interested in contesting the election from Baramati. I don't know the exact reasons. What is their policy? It is not appropriate to comment so early," he said.
On the other hand, NCP-SP legislator Rohit Pawar said that he may have to face a contest against Ajit Pawar, adding that he (Ajit Pawar) may be forced to contest against him.
However, Tatkare downplayed Rohit Pawar's comment saying: "There is no need to pay attention to opponents. The leaders of the opposition party are making various criticisms of us", replied Tatkare.
"We will face the elections under the leadership of Ajit Pawar, and we will achieve good results," he added.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar, who is projected by some of his party workers as the Chief Minister, said that numbers are important to become the CM.
"Uddhav Thackeray did not contest any election but became Chief Minister. Uddhav Thackeray became the Chief Minister first and then elected to the state council. Numbers are important for the post of Chief Minister," he explained.
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