‘His personal matter’: Praful Patel reacts to Ajit Pawar's ‘mistake’ statement

Ajit Pawar ‘admitted’ on Tuesday that fielding his wife Sunetra against his cousin Supriya Sule in the Lok Sabha elections was a ‘huge mistake.’

Ajit Pawar's ‘admission’ that fielding his wife Sunetra against his cousin Supriya Sule in the Lok Sabha elections was a ‘mistake,’ is a ‘personal matter’ of the Pawar family, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel said on Wednesday.

Praful Patel (left) and Ajit Pawar (PTI/File Photo)

Patel added that therefore, it would not be ‘appropriate’ for him to speak on the issue.

“It is his personal matter, his family's matter. He is a senior leader in the state (Maharashtra) and the president of our party. If he has said something, then I do not think it is appropriate for me to say anything more about it,” the senior member of the NCP told reporters.

In July last year, Pawar rebelled against his uncle, veteran politician Sharad Pawar, father of Supriya Sule, and split the NCP. He then joined Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti coalition of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, and was made the state's deputy chief minister.

The Election Commission recognises the party's nephew-led faction as the ‘real’ NCP. The Sharad Pawar group, which functions as NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), has challenged this in the Supreme Court.

Following this split in the NCP, Ajit fielded his wife Sunetra from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, the family stronghold. Sule, however, defeated her sister-in-law by more than 1.55 lakh votes to win the seat for the fourth consecutive time.

On Tuesday, ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls, likely to be held in October, Ajit Pawar called this decision to have nominated his wife against his cousin, a ‘huge mistake.’

“I love all my sisters. One shouldn't allow politics to enter homes. I made a mistake in fielding Sunetra against my sister. This shouldn't have happened. But the (NCP's) parliamentary board made a decision. Now I feel it was wrong,” he stated.

In the 2024 general elections, the Mahayuti won only 17 of Maharashtra's 48 parliamentary seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena [UBT]) alliance won 31 seats.

(With ANI inputs)