Fault lines within the Pawar family

The fault lines within the Pawars are evident in Pune district, especially in their family bastion Baramati, which both uncle and nephew seem keen to hold on to

In past three decades or so, politics in Maharashtra has largely revolved around three families: the Pawars, the Thackerays and the Munde-Mahajans.

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The dominance of the Munde-Mahajans, who built the base of the BJP in Maharashtra, ended with the tragic end of both leading men—Pramod Mahajan in 2006 and Gopinath Munde in 2014.

The Thackeray family split in 2005, with Raj Thackeray leaving the Shiv Sena following a power tussle with cousin Uddhav Thackeray. In 2022, Eknath Shinde engineered a split that has left the Thackeray family without the Shiv Sena party founded by patriarch Bal Thackeray.

Exactly a year later, Ajit Pawar engineered a split in the NCP founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar, which also caused a split within the family. Just like the Thackerays, senior Pawar has lost the party he founded to nephew Ajit, thanks to the Election Commission’s verdict.

The fault lines within the Pawars are evident in Pune district, especially in their family bastion Baramati, which both uncle and nephew seem keen to hold on to.

On Friday, Ajit Pawar urged the people of Baramati to not get swayed by the emotional appeal of some persons (Sharad Pawar). Speaking at a public meeting, he claimed that he was being isolated within the family and that he would not contest the assembly election from Baramati if his candidate (most likely his wife Sunetra) did not get elected in the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll. His aim is to defeat Pawar’s daughter and sitting MP Supriya Sule.

According to his aides, Ajit Pawar was not keen to field any family member from Baramati initially, but his big brother ally pointed out that winning Baramati is crucial for him to establish control over the NCP support base. So, for the past few weeks, Ajit, his wife Sunetra and son Parth have been criss-crossing the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency to connect with party workers and reach out to people.

Out of six assembly segments under Baramati, four are with the ruling alliance including the Baramati assembly which Ajit represents. The remaining two seats, Bhor and Purandar, are with the Congress.

According to the Ajit Pawar camp, Purandar MLA Sanjay Jagtap is in touch with the NCP and may switch sides in the coming months. Arithmetically, with five assembly segments well in control, Ajit Pawar’s nominee should win.

But then, it is not easy to wipe out Sharad Pawar’s influence from Baramati, as the transformed the once backward area into a model of development. While Ajitdada is trying leave no stone unturned, there are speculations that the senior Pawar may a spring surprise and contest from the seat himself. If that happens, it will be an altogether different battle, though leaders from the Sharad Pawar faction say they are confident of Supriya Sule’s victory. Looks like the Pawar family war in Baramati will be the most watched battle in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Bond between Rane and Chavan

Former chief ministers Narayan Rane and Ashok Chavan share a strange relationship. In 2005, Rane, then firebrand Shiv Sena leader, joined the Congress, hoping that he would be made chief minister in the future. Three years later, when Vilasrao Deshmukh had to step down as chief minister following the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, Rane went all out to get the top job. But the Congress leadership chose Ashok Chavan.

An angry Rane vented his anger at the party leadership, losing any chance of getting the top post in a Congress government. In 2010, when Chavan had to step down following the Adarsh controversy, the chief minister’s job went to Prithviraj Chavan and not Rane. In 2017, he quit the Congress, floated his own party, and got elected to the Rajya Sabha with the help of the BJP a year later. In 2019, he merged his outfit with the BJP. Two years later, he was made a union minister.

With his six-year term in the Rajya Sabha ending, Rane expected a renomination to the upper house. Instead, the BJP nominated Ashok Chavan, who had joined the party a day earlier. This time, there was no outburst from the 71-year-old Rane. He even called Chavan on Thursday and congratulated him. Social media was, however, full of memes on how Rane was edged out by Chavan, yet again.

BJP’s search for a candidate in Konkan

Rane’s not getting the Rajya Sabha nomination perhaps has something to do with the BJP’s dilemma in the Konkan, say party insiders. The BJP is keen on contesting from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency, which is currently held by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Vinayak Raut. It is one of a few constituencies where the Thackeray faction can secure a win. The BJP had considered fielding PWD minister Ravindra Chavan from the seat but is not sure about him now. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has also staked claim on the seat, but does not have a strong candidate. So chances are that Rane will contest from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, which was once represented by his son Nilesh as a Congress MP.