Stating that “99%” of the seat-sharing talks between the three ruling Mahayuti partners (Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the BJP and the splinter Nationalist Congress Party faction) had been completed, NCP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said the ruling coalition will declare their remaining candidates on Thursday.
Speaking in Pune on Tuesday after holding a meeting of MLAs belonging to his NCP faction, Mr. Pawar declared the name of sitting MP Sunil Tatkare as the Mahayuti’s candidate for the Raigad Lok Sabha seat.
Later on Tuesday evening, Mr. Pawar also oversaw the entry of Shiv Sena leader Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil into his NCP fold, and announced Mr. Adhalrao-Patil’s candidature for the Shirur Lok Sabha seat.
“99% of the process on the sharing of seats is completed. The names of the remaining candidates of the Mahayuti will be declared in a joint press conference which will be addressed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, and myself,” he said.
Baramati suspense
When asked about who will be the Mahayuti’s candidate for the keenly-contested Baramati seat, Mr. Pawar said: “Let the suspense remain for a couple of more days. You will come to know on March 28. I can say that the candidate is who you [alluding to the press] think it is.”
Mr. Pawar was referring to the reports that his wife, Sunetra Pawar, would be the likely candidate for the crucial seat in Pune district.
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The BJP has already announced the names of its candidates on 23 Lok Sabha seats. However, Mr. Shinde’s Sena faction and Mr. Pawar’s NCP had, so far, not officially announced their candidates until the latter’s declaration for the Raigad and Shirur seats.
Mr. Tatkare, who is State NCP president of the Deputy CM’s splinter faction, had narrowly managed to win the Raigad seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha by defeating his nearest rival, the undivided Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete, by barely 30,000 votes.
In Shirur, a key Lok Sabha seat in western Maharashtra, Mr. Pawar lauded Mr. Adhalrao-Patil’s “political management skills” while welcoming him into his party. Mr. Adhalrao-Patil had, incidentally, begun his political career with the undivided NCP before moving to the undivided Shiv Sena in 2009.
“We will not let old rivalries resurface. The ultimate objective is to ensure that Narendra Modi returns as Prime Minister for a third term,” Mr. Pawar said, adding that the purpose of the original NCP party symbol of the clock, which was awarded to his faction by the Election Commission, was to “help re-elect” Mr. Modi”.
“These urban voters may think that only the lotus [BJP’s] symbol means a vote for Modi and may return back. We will be issuing instructions soon that a vote for the clock, the bow and arrow (Shinde Sena’s symbol) along with the lotus is a vote for Mr. Modi,” said Mr. Ajit Pawar.
Shirur goes to the polls in the fourth phase on May 13.
He had been the sword arm of the NCP’s influence across Shirur and rural Pune in the early days of the NCP’s formation in 1999.
In the last two general elections, the NCP’s attempts to dislodge their former partyman (now with the Shiv Sena) came a cropper with Mr. Adhalrao Patil winning the Shirur seat by a thumping majority of more than 1 lakh votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha, and more than 3 lakh votes in 2014 LS election.
However, in 2019, the NCP, after strenuous efforts, had fielded popular Marathi television actor Amol Kohe, known for his small screen portrayals of Maratha warrior kings Chhatrapati Shivaji and his son Sambhaji, against Mr. Adhalrao-Patil.
Mr. Kolhe proved to be a crowd puller, with Ajit Pawar personally conducting the campaign in 2019 against Mr. Adhalrao-Patil. The latter crashed, and Mr. Kolhe emerged as a giant killer.
However, what with the momentous political shifts in Maharashtra, Kolhe stayed on with Sharad Pawar after Ajit split his uncle’s party in July last year. For Ajit Pawar, Shirur has become a prestige fight, and he has publicly stated that he would actively work to defeat Dr. Kolhe.
