Ajit Pawar hints at Oppn. backing MNS candidate against Patil in Kothrud

October 05, 2019 03:41 am | Updated 03:43 am IST - Pune

NCP leader Ajit Pawar waves at supporters after filing nomination at Baramati on Friday.

NCP leader Ajit Pawar waves at supporters after filing nomination at Baramati on Friday.

In a bid to corner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president Chandrakant Patil in the crucial Kothrud Assembly segment, opposition parties are likely to lend support to his opponent and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Kishore Shinde.

After filing his nomination for the Baramati seat on Friday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar hinted that the Congress-NCP alliance and other friendly parties like Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Paksha may come together to rally for Mr. Shinde to preclude fragmentation of votes. “We will clear our stance on this soon after discussions.”

He further said all opposition parties had in fact earlier thought of jointly fielding a candidate for the Kothrud seat. “[MNS chief] Raj Thackeray had put forward Mr. Shinde’s name during my discussions with him. Some names were mulled over by us as well while that of activist Vishwambar Chaudhari was put forward by the Swabhimani Paksha… in the recently concluded general elections, BJP leader Girish Bapat had secured a lead of one lakh votes in Kothrud. So, we were thinking of putting up a single candidate to prevent division of votes.”

However, the MNS thereafter formally declared Mr. Shinde’s candidacy and the Aam Aadmi Party announced the name of Dr. Abhijit More for Kothrud. The Congress-NCP and their allies, on the other hand, are yet to decide on a candidate for Kothrud, and are now thinking of supporting Mr. Shinde. The NCP leader, who had quit as Baramati MLA recently, clarified that disaffected BJP leader Eknath Khadse was never in touch with him or NCP State president Jayant Patil.

Mr. Pawar’s statement is in stark contrast to that of his uncle, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, who on Thursday claimed that Mr. Khadse, who was allegedly disgruntled with the BJP, had been in touch with the NCP for the last few months.

“Television channels began running stories that I had chartered a helicopter and rushed to Jalgaon to meet Mr. Khadse, and had cancelled my campaign tour of Beed district…there is not the slightest truth in such stories and I urge the media not to broadcast such speculation,” Mr. Pawar said.

Mr. Khadse, a six-time MLA from Muktainagar in Jalgaon, was not given a ticket this time. Instead, his daughter Rohini Khadse was named in the fourth list released by the BJP to placate the senior leader and prevent any possible rebellion.

Earlier, Mr. Pawar, accompanied by his sons Parth and Jay, staged a spectacular show of strength throughout Baramati city, the bastion of the Pawar clan and a family pocket-borough. “Going by the tremendous support shown by people, I am confident of winning by a margin of at least one lakh votes in the upcoming contest,” he said.

Mr. Pawar has been holding the Baramati Assembly seat since 1991, after he was elected when Sharad Pawar resigned the seat to go to the Centre. “We have an enduring bond of affection with the people of Baramati…they have always overwhelmed the Pawars’ with their undying support,” he said.In the 2014 Assembly elections, despite the so-called ‘Modi wave’ and a campaign by the Prime Minister himself in Baramati, Mr. Pawar won the seat by nearly 90,000 votes.

This time, Mr. Pawar is pitted against Gopichand Padalkar, an influential Dhangar leader from Sangli, who is the BJP’s candidate for Baramati.

Mr. Padalkar, who recently re-entered the BJP after defecting from Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, has been fielded with an eye on the formidable Dhangar constituents in Baramati.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Pawar’s cousin, Supriya Sule had a scare over the Baramati LS constituency when Dhangar leader and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha chief Mahadev Jankar nearly beat her, losing to her only by a slender margin of 70,000 votes.

Mr. Pawar said, “I take seriously any candidate who is fielded against me. We are preparing in deadly earnest and our campaign has no room for complacency.”

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