Pawar fields Maratha candidate opposite OBC leader Bhujbal

Sharad Pawar renominates Sandeep Kshirsagar amid party tensions, emphasizing loyalty over community pressure. The NCP (SP) lists diverse candidates.

MUMBAI: Despite his partymen’s reservations, Sharad Pawar has renominated his Beed MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar, a young OBC leader whose house was torched during the Maratha protests last year. Among the 22 candidates announced in the NCP (SP)’s second list on Saturday, two are legislators from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP who returned to the Sharad Pawar faction recently. Pawar has also fielded Manikrao Shinde, a Maratha, opposite NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal in Yeola.

Pawar fields Maratha candidate opposite OBC leader Bhujbal

Kshirsagar’s house as well as that of Prakash Solanke (NCP-AP) were torched by Maratha activists upset about OBC outfits and politicians opposing Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil’s demand for reservation from the OBC category. Following the agitation, a divide ensued between the two communities—in Beed, it was so sharp that BJP leader and prominent OBC face Pankaja Munde lost the Lok Sabha election to NCP (SP) candidate Bajrang Sonawane.

A section of leaders in the NCP (SP) was in favour of fielding a Maratha candidate from Beed to ensure victory in this polarised atmosphere. There was speculation that Jyoti Mete, widow of the late Maratha leader Vinayak Mete, who joined the NCP (SP) last week, could be the candidate but Pawar decided to renominate Kshirsagar.

“Elective merit is an important criterion for candidate selection,” said party spokesperson Anish Gawande. “Sandeep Kshirsagar is a loyalist who stayed with the party during the split.” A party leader involved in the selection process said there was pressure to field a Maratha candidate in Beed. “But Pawar Saheb wanted to convey the message that the party would not let community outfits dictate their candidate,” he said.

However, the Pawar faction has fielded Manikrao Shinde, a Maratha candidate, opposite NCP minister Bhujbal, who was once a close aide of Pawar but chose to go with Ajit Pawar. Bhujbal is a prominent OBC candidate but is facing strong opposition from Marathas—Jarange-Patil has appealed to the community in Nashik district to ensure his defeat.

The NCP (SP) has also put up Omi Kalani, son of former controversial Ulhasnagar MLA Pappu Kalani opposite the BJP’s Kumar Ailani. The Kalani and Ailani families are political rivals in Ulhasnagar.

The list also includes two legislators who left the Ajit Pawar NCP to return to the Sharad Pawar faction: Deepak Chavan, MLA from Phaltan constituency, and MLC Satish Chavan, who has been fielded from Gangapur constituency. Satish Chavan was considered a close aide of Ajit Pawar.

In Akole constituency of Ahilyanagar (formerly Ahmednagar), Pawar ignored senior BJP leader Madhukar Pichad’s request to field his son Sandeep and instead picked a young face, Amit Bhangare. Pichad was a long-time aide of Pawar but defected to the BJP before the 2014 assembly elections. He was reportedly keen on coming back but on condition that his son be given a ticket.

In Junnar in Pune district, too, Pawar has chosen a young face, Satyasheel Sherkar, opposite NCP MLA Atul Benke. Benke too had met Pawar a few times, leading to speculation that he wanted to join him.