Maha polls: Pawar 'Kaka-Putnya' grapple to woo voters in high-profile Baramati seat

Pune (Maharashtra), Oct 28 (IANS) The prestigious Baramati Assembly constituency witnessed two mega-processions and shows of strength by the Pawar clan, with an ‘uncle’ and ‘nephew’ from rival parties wooing the voters for the upcoming November 20 elections, here on Monday.

On one side was Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar, hand-holding his grand-nephew Yugendra Shrinivas Pawar to file his candidature after leading a long and colourful procession.

The US-educated professional Yugendra S. Pawar, 32, is the son of Shrinivas Anantrao Pawar – the younger brother of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Ajit Anantrao Pawar, and currently the MahaYuti government’s Deputy Chief Minister for a record 6th time.

Anantrao G. Pawar, a sibling of Sharad G. Pawar, 84, besides other brothers-sisters make up the famed and formidable Pawar clan, ranked among the biggest and most powerful in state and national politics.

After the ‘putnya’ Yugendra S. Pawar filed his nomination papers against his ‘kaka’, Sharad Pawar interacted briefly with the media.

The octogenarian expressed firm belief that Baramatikars would elect his grand-nephew (the contender Yugendra) with a huge margin – indirectly distancing himself from his deserter nephew, Ajit A. Pawar.

“This is not a question for only Baramati, but for the entire Maharashtra. I have toured almost all the districts in the past few months. In the 2024 Lok Sabha, the people supported Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in a big way. MVA won 31 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, and I am grateful to the people from the depths of my heart,” acknowledged Sharad Pawar.

He continued: “I have full faith in the people… We have kept up the tempo of the Lok Sabha elections even for the Assembly polls. We are working for unity and unanimity in all seats being contested by the MVA.”

Sharad Pawar said he was unsure whether he was right or not in his observations, but “I have known the people of Baramati very well since 1965… I have full confidence in them… The gen-next and others will extend their support to Yugendra.”

He recalled how the people of Baramati had always endoresed the Pawar family since his 1965 entry into Congress politics, then “going to file the election nomination papers at the Tehsildar office” and winning his maiden election as MLA (1967).

From then on, he never looked back, became a minister, the youngest CM in 1978 (aged 38, followed by three more stints), then stints in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, as Union Minister for years, as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and now as the political patriarch and Godfather of the Pawar clan through the NCP (SP).

With Yugendra S. Pawar’s political debut, he will become the 8th Pawar to plunge into electoral politics, in what will be most prestigious battle in the 2024 state Assembly poll.

Presently, the clan is spread out – Sharad G. Pawar (Rajya Sabha), daughter and NCP-SP Working President Supriya Sule (Lok Sabha), nephew Ajit A. Pawar (MLA-Dy CM), his wife Sunetra Ajit Pawar (Rajya Sabha), another grand-nephew Rohit R. Pawar (MLA Karjat-Jamkhed).

Yugendra’s first steps have proved to be challenging – posing a challenge to his own uncle and political veteran Ajit A. Pawar – whose wife Sunetra lost the Baramati 2024 Lok Sabha seat to her ‘nanad’ (Supriya Sule).

At that time, Yugendra and his parents had avidly campaigned for one ‘aunt’ (Supriya Sule) pitted against another (Sunetra A. Pawar).

Though a rookie in electoral politics, Yugendra has done some trials – by touring over 200 villages in Baramati multiple times, interacting with the masses, understanding the problems, issues of the region and other insights.

This was in sharp contrast to his cousin, Parth Ajit Pawar – who had made a grand bid from Maval Lok Sabha seat in 2019, but ended up biting dust and embarrassing the Pawar clan.

People also remember how an unflinching Sharad Pawar had campaigned in pouring rains in the October 2019 Satara Lok Sabha bypolls to prop up a vulnerable candidate Shriniwas Patil, who trounced none other than a flamboyant royal – Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosale.