As PM Modi blew the poll bugle in Maharashtra with a rally in Vidarbha on April 8, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar chastised him for being intolerant of dissent, remarking that Mr. Modi had centralised power and sent people to jail for speaking against him.
Addressing a rally during campaigning in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency – the stronghold of the Pawar clan, the 83-year-old Mr. Pawar also took potshots at his nephew, rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar who has aligned with the ruling BJP in Maharashtra.
Mr. Pawar’s daughter, three-term, incumbent Baramati MP Supriya Sule, is pitted against Ajit’s Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, who is the ruling Mahayuti’s candidate. The Baramati fight is arguably the State’s most keenly watched “prestige face-off”.
Hitting out at Mr. Modi, Pawar senior said, “When I was the Union Agriculture Minister [for two terms during the UPA regime], I helped Narendra Modi, who was then Gujarat Chief Minister, without any bias. When he visited Baramati, Mr. Modi said he entered politics holding my hand. Yet today, the PM is mounting personal attacks against me.”
Mr. Pawar said that anyone who spoke out against the PM, risked facing some action.
“First, the ex-Jharkhand CM [Hemant Soren] spoke out against the PM, and he was sent to jail. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, made a statement against the PM, and he was also sent to jail. This is not democracy but a dictatorship. All power has been centralised in the hands of Modi. We need to liberate power from his grasp,” said the NCP (SP) chief and Rajya Sabha MP.
Mr. Pawar wondered why NCP leader and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar would choose the BJP.
Party for the elite
“The BJP today is not a party concerned with the common people or farmers in the rural hinterland, but a party for a handful of people. Ordinary voters did not vote (for the Ajit Pawar-led NCP) to join the BJP. Some people have forgotten this and are going on a different path. I think it is the wrong path,” he said.
Taking a swipe at Ajit’s frequent criticism of his unwillingness to retire, Mr. Sharad Pawar said: “My detractors keep talking about how old I am. All this talk is pointless…you still haven’t seen the end of me. This train [referring to himself] will not stop. You [voters of Baramati] have given me everything: electing me to the Vidhan Sabha, the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha. You made me CM of Maharashtra four times. You have not given me a single day’s rest for the last 56 years (alluding to Mr. Pawar’s electorally undefeated political career).”
Expressing his determination to keep fighting for the people of Baramati and the State, Mr. Pawar said it was his “moral responsibility to keep working for people” who had invested so much faith in him.
The BJP, which has tried to capture the hitherto impregnable citadel that is Baramati without success, finally sees a chance in this election with Ajit Pawar on their side.
However, given Pawar senior’s towering influence over Baramati, and local resentment against Ajit Pawar the contest is a tough one for the latter.
The contest is not easy for Supriya Sule either, despite Sharad Pawar taking to the field to seek a fourth term for his daughter.
Sunetra seeks allies
On Monday, in a significant development, Sunetra Pawar personally visited the home of ex-Purandar MLA and Eknath Shinde camp leader Vijay Shivtare, who recently vowed to contest in Baramati as a third challenger in a bid to overthrow the Pawar clan.
Mr. Shivtare’s animus towards Ajit Pawar is well-known given that the latter had personally ensured his defeat in the 2019 Assembly election in Purandar, which is part of Baramati.
Ms. Sunetra Pawar met with Mr. Shivtare for half-an-hour after which the latter promised he would campaign wholeheartedly for her and let bygones be bygones.
Meanwhile, speaking in Nagpur, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis reiterated that the Baramati battle was not a clash between the Pawar family but rather between PM Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
“A vote for Sunetra tai is a vote for Modiji while a vote for Supriya tai will translate into a vote for Rahul Gandhi. I think the people have a clear choice here,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
Shooting back at Mr. Fadnavis, Sharad Pawar questioned whether Mr. Rahul Gandhi was visiting Baramati to seek votes.
“Is Rahul Gandhi campaigning here? Is Modi palnning to come here? They [the BJP] are not talking about voting for Maharashtra, but are talking about Modi and Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
