Seven-time undefeated MLA Ajit Pawar, who broke away from his uncle’s NCP last year, will be facing his nephew, Yugendra Pawar, in the Maharashtra Assembly polls.
Published Nov 12, 2024 | 12:00 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 12, 2024 | 12:00 PM
Yugendra Pawar with Sharad Pawar. (Facebook)
For the second time this year, the city of Baramati in Maharashtra – 100 km away from Pune – is gearing up for a high-voltage political clash within the Pawar clan.
In a week, seven-time undefeated MLA Ajit Pawar, who broke away from his uncle’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) last year, will be facing his nephew, Yugendra Pawar, in the state Assembly polls.
Earlier this year, Ajit Pawar suffered a crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, when his cousin Supriya Sule defeated his wife Sunetra from the region.
However, the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, with six Assembly segments, has a very different dynamic than the Assembly seat. While the deputy chief minister has a lot of sway over the urban region, the rural areas seem to be firmly on the side of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, who has brought in 32-year-old Yugendra as his challenger for Ajit.
Contesting his first-ever election campaign, Yugendra Pawar spoke to South First about the impact of the rift in the party, campaign strategy, and his plans for Baramati.
Q: Voters and party members in Baramati, who have been voting for Ajit Pawar in Assembly polls are now faced with the dilemma of choosing between him and the party he left. How has this split affected the morale of the party workers?
A: I think it has increased party morale. Whenever a difficult situation or a struggle occurs in [Sharad] Pawar Saheb’s life, he suddenly becomes more active and energised.
I think that’s what differentiates him from other leaders. Even though certain members of our party have left us, our workers, the karyakartas, are still with us and doing their best.
I believe we saw that in the Lok Sabha elections.
Q: What is your overall campaign strategy for the Assembly polls, compared to the Lok Sabha elections?
A: Lok Sabha polls are essentially for Delhi, and there are more districts in each constituency. In Assembly polls, the region you get to cover becomes much smaller and the issues get much more specific.
Lok Sabha is fought more on a national level, whereas this is more at a state level. So we’re going to take up issues affecting the state.
In our district, Baramati, we have been visiting people in every village and learning about their problems.
Q: What is the public’s mood in these villages and towns…what do they have to say?
A: I feel the public is very much with Sharad Pawar. They know who was behind all the good work done in this region so far.
Quite a few people are scared to openly express their allegiance right now, but when the time comes, they will definitely vote for our side.
Q: One of the ideas you mentioned in your campaign was that you want to start something of an IT hub in Baramati. Can you elaborate?
A: The first AI [artificial intelligence] college in the country is being set up in Baramati.
It is going to be inaugurated in two or three months, in an education institute founded by Pawar Saheb 53 years ago, called Vidya Pratishthan.
As a part of that ecosystem, we are looking to set up an IT park. It won’t be as big as Bangalore or Pune, but it is a beginning.
Q: You have been pushing the issues of water scarcity, unemployment, and lack of adequate public transport in your constituency. What do you think are some of the biggest problems in Maharashtra today?
A: The problems are quite similar. There are some places where farmers suffer due to lack of water while some other areas are getting floods. And again, the farmers suffer. There’s quite a dichotomy in that situation.
Inflation is a big issue in Maharashtra at large along with unemployment.
I think the big issue is that the leaders from Gujarat hold the reins of power for the state’s Mahayuti government. That is not necessarily good for Maharashtrians because a lot of industries that were supposed to come to the state went to Gujarat.
The International Finance Corporation, which was supposed to come to Mumbai, is now in Gujarat’s GIFT city, so it is affecting institutions as well.
I think that somebody leading the country, like a Union Minister or the Prime Minister, needs to focus more on the country, and not only on certain pockets, where they belong to. Bias is not good in politics.
Q: As you said, even with congruent governments in the state and Centre, we are witnessing a lot of projects moving to other states. If your coalition comes to power, it’s going to be in the Opposition to the Centre. Do you think the state will, in a way, be punished more?
A: I hope not. I think if leaders keep a broad mind, then they shouldn’t do that. When the current prime minister was the chief minister of Gujarat, we had a UPA government in the Centre.
Sharad Pawar was the agriculture minister, and he had helped him (Narendra Modi) get a lot of work done, despite being in opposing parties.
Pawar Saheb looked at the chief representative of the people of Gujarat, not at the politician, and helped him navigate the UPA regime. I should hope that when we get elected, that favour will be returned.
Q: Poll analysts are saying this election will be a very close one. Do you believe that there will be any sort of post-poll alliances?
A: There could definitely be post-poll alliances. Nobody thought that Shiv Sena was going to ally with the Congress, but it happened.
Q: The AIMIM said it would be interested in allying with the MVA after the polls. The Shiv Sena leaders have flat-out rejected the idea, given the very opposing ideologies, but do you think it is possible?
A: The Sena and the AIMIM leaders have to decide that. I’m not actually in those talks; as of now, I’m just focusing on my district.
But yes, the bigger leaders will be the ones taking the final calls on these alliances. A lot of people say that politics is the art of the possible, so you never know what’s going to happen.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
