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BJP will give NCP tough fight in Pawar’s home turf Baramati: Bawankule
Bawankule on Baramati tour interacted with BJP cadres ahead of Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to the constituency
Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Tuesday said that the saffron party and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena combine will win the Baramati constituency in the 2024 elections along with more than 45 seats in the state
Bawankule on Baramati tour interacted with BJP cadres ahead of Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to the constituency
Baramati in Pune district has been the stronghold of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar who had represented the constituency multiple times, including his days in the Indian National Congress. His daughter Supriya Sule is the sitting MP and nephew Ajit Pawar is the MLA.
The BJP has launched a campaign to boost the party’s base in more than 140 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country, including Baramati and 15 other seats in Maharashtra.
“Given the performance of the Narendra Modi government in the last eight years and various welfare schemes for the poor launched by the Centre and the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, I am confident that we will change the opinion of the people and the fortress will fall,” he said.
The NCP said that the saffron party should stop “daydreaming” to wrest Baramati from sitting MP Supriya Sule.
“BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed his party will win the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in 2024. This assertion will never see the light of the day. The BJP should stop daydreaming about winning the Baramati constituency,” said NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase.
Bawankule said the BJP and the Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde will win more than 45 of the total 48 LS seats from Maharashtra, including Baramati, in the 2024 elections.
Explaining the factors shaping BJP’s optimism to win Baramati, Bawankule said, without taking NCP’s name, that the party which represents Baramati lacks vision
He referred to Congress’ political slide to aim for the NCP.
“The Congress lost after being in power for 55 years. See the situation of Congress. The Congress digressed from its thoughts, it deviated from its vision and when leaders start working to save their positions, their fortresses fall. A similar thing is happening in Baramati. In Baramati, there is no vision. The party (which is in power here) lacks vision. A group of leaders is called the NCP and those who get elected from this group, they work for themselves,” he said
Asked about the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha constituencies, the BJP leader said the Central leadership will pick nominees. He said ministers have been assigned the responsibility to visit the 16 LS constituencies.
Bawankule also visited Katewadi, the native village of Sharad Pawar.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate Kanchan Kul, wife of Daund MLA Rahul Kul, lost to Sule by a margin of over 1.55 lakh votes.
In the last LS elections, the BJP had contested 25 seats in Maharashtra and won 23 while the party’s then ally Sena bagged 18 of the 23 seats.
