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Supriya, Sunetra file nominations for Baramati; Dhangekar, Kolhe for Pune and Shirur seats
NCP (SCP) candidate Supriya Sule, her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar filed nominations for Baramati parliamentary seat on Thursday
Pune: The Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) candidate Supriya Sule and her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, from the rival faction of the party led by her husband Ajit Pawar, filed their nominations on Thursday for Baramati parliamentary seat. Supriya, a three-time MP, will face her cousin’s wife Sunetra, in the family’s pocket borough.
Baramati goes to polls in the third phase on May 7 (the first phase will go to poll on April 19 and second on April 26). While filing nominations in this phase closes on Friday, the papers will be scrutinised on April 20 and the option of withdrawing nominations will be allowed till April 22.
After filing her nomination, Sunetra lauded the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the “work done by Ajit Pawar in Baramati” which has made the constituency “a development model for the state”. “It was Ajit Pawar’s decision to join the development journey in the state and Baramati votes will support it,” she said.
Chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar and NCP leader Praful Patel were by her side as Sunetra made her poll debut on Thursday. Both factions led a show of strength in the vicinity of the district election’s commission’s office in Pune. While one faction held meetings in the open, the other held a rally.
Supriya alleged threats were being issued by the rival camp to voters and party workers, in an attempt to hold them back from joining her campaign. “If anyone threatens you, please give them my number. I am Sharad Pawar’s daughter – I will not be bullied by threats,” said Supriya, as she chose to sit on the ground during her public meeting, rather than the dias, along with Amol Kolhe, sitting MP of NCP (SCP) in Shirur and Congress’s Ravindra Dhangekar. The rally thereafter was attended by Sharad Pawar, Balasaheb Thorat and Vishwajeet Kadam.
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, on the other hand, attempted to quell rumours that the two factions will come together after the elections, and said it was an attempt to “hoodwink people and there is no reason to believe it”.
“The voters are manipulated, their emotions stoked, but they should not fall prey to rumours. We need Centre’s support to develop Baramati. People are being misled about diversion of water from Bhor and Velha talukas, which is untrue,” he said.
On his wife’s debut in politics, he recalled the time he was an underconfident youth who trembled while delivering his first speech in 1991. “No one emerges from their mother’s womb with knowledge of the world. They learn; and getting work done is more important. This election is Narendra Modi vs Rahul Gandhi and not one between relatives,” he said.
While addressing a rally, CM Shinde came up with a new slogan: ‘Abki baar, Sunetra Pawar’. “This time, after 15 years, we have a fight between development and family. Ajit Pawar has done a lot for the development of Baramati without getting any credit,” said Shinde.
Carrying Shinde’s thought forward, DCM Devendra Fadnavis said, “This fight is not between Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) or Ajit Pawar or not even Sunetra Pawar or Supriya Sule – it is a Lok Sabha election and not a gram panchayat or zilla parishad election. It is an election to select the leader of the country,” he said. “We want to see the MP of Baramati standing with Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi.”
Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said, “Even if Modi says that the country has the fifth highest GDP in the world, the economy developed faster during the tenure of prime minister Manmohan Singh. If the present government had followed Singh’s model, India would have reached third position in the world.”
“In the BJP’s manifesto, there are 48 photographs of Narendra Modi. Whatever guarantees we promised in Karnataka based on which Congress won we fulfilled all of them. Similarly, it is the MVA’s responsibility to fulfil all the promises made. Even if some MLAs have left the parties due to fear of ED or power, the voters who supported them have not gone anywhere,” he said.
Addressing the crowd, NCP (SCP) president Sharad Pawar said, “With your presence it has become clear that with what strength you are going to work in the constituency. Those in power today have cheated the people of this country in the last 10 years. Be it inflation, farmer issues, unemployment and injustice to women. In assurances and fulfilment there is a huge difference.”
Pawar said that after Modi came to power at the Centre in 2014, petrol was priced at ₹71 and the prime minister promised to reduce it by 50% in 50 days.
“Our 3,650 days have passed, today it is priced at ₹106 per litre. LPG prices have increased. The third promise he made of giving employment to youths. In the last 10 years, around 86% of youth are unemployed in the country today. The PM is putting elected members in jail by misusing power,” he said.
Ajit also files papers
Deputy chief minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar has also filed a set of nomination papers for Baramati as an independent, which an NCP functionary described as a back-up plan in case Sunetra’s nomination does not stand scrutiny or any discrepancy is found in it. Many a times, spouse of candidates submit nominations as dummy candidate and often withdraw their papers once the official candidate’s nomination is accepted.
Baramati seat
Till Thursday, the Election Commission received 38 nomination papers submitted by 27 candidates. One person can file multiple sets.
