In This Family Bastion Of Baramati, 'Pawar Vs Pawar' In Elections Is A First

The political landscape of Maharashtra is dotted with several constituencies that over the decades have transformed into fiefs of the locally-dominant families. One such constituency is Baramati, a political bastion of the Pawar family.

For decades, the Pawar family and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by its octogenarian leader Sharad Pawar has held sway over the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency and the associated Vidhan Sabha constituencies.

This apart, the members of the family also control the Baramati city council, district council as well as the regional co-operative sugar factories and milk dairies, virtually maintaining a stranglehold on the entire political economy of the Pune district.

However, this time it's different. After a split in the NCP led by the family patriarch’s nephew and the present Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in July 2023, Baramati Lok Sabha constituency is gearing up for an unprecedented showdown.

The forthcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections will witness a fierce battle between two prominent members of the Pawar household — Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar.

Supriya Sule, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) and daughter of Sharad Pawar, is set to contest from the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) ticket under the leadership of her father.

On the other hand, Ajit Pawar, who is determined to prove his might and political worth, has decided to field his wife Sunetra Pawar as his party’s candidate.

Who Is Sunetra Pawar?

Popularly known among Baramatikars as Vahini (elder sister), Sunetra Pawar, unlike her sister-in-law Supriya, is known to maintain a low-key presence.

A board member of several Pawar family run organisations, Sunetra hails from the politically influential Patil family from Dharashiv in Marathwada.

Notably, she is the sister of Sharad Pawar’s former confidante and ex-cabinet minister Padmasimha Patil, who presides over the Terna Cooperative Sugar Factory along with the Terna Group of Institutions, and is also alleged to have been involved in the murder of his own cousin and Dharashiv MP Pavanraje Nimbalkar.

What Are The Chances Of Sunetra Pawar's Victory?

While Supriya Sule benefits from the longstanding political dominance of the Pawar family in the region, Sunetra stands to gain from the groundwork laid by her husband, Ajit Pawar. If Sharad Pawar is said to be the face of Baramati, it is Ajit Pawar who is said to have built the constituency brick-by-brick as a family fortress.

Currently representing the Baramati Vidhan Sabha constituency, Pawar junior is said to have deep grass-roots connect with the electorate. In the 2019 state assembly polls, as a marker of his ability to get re-elected, while his opponents exhausted themselves touring the entire assembly seat, Pawar is said to have campaigned only for a week before the elections.

Notably, Ajit Pawar is said to be determined to wrest the Baramati Lok Sabha seat this time not only to prove his worth against his uncle but also to overcome the personal setback of his son's defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Maval seat.

Now, with his wife as candidate, Ajit Pawar has reported to have taken a jibe at his uncle, "Someone will come and try to make emotional appeals. Do not fall for it. From henceforth, consider that it is me who is the candidate in all elections and just press the button next to my party's symbol."

Sharad Pawar's Wild Card Entry — Yugendra Pawar

On the other hand, Supriya Sule too is leaving no stone unturned to retain her seat. As a counter to the nephew's move of going against uncle, Sharad Pawar has roped in Ajit Pawar's nephew — Yugendra Pawar, to ensure Sule's victory.

Son of Ajit Pawar's brother Vasantrao Pawar, Yugendra is considered as one of the successors to senior Pawar's legacy from the larger Pawar family. Yugendra, a Masters in Finance degree holder from the United States, currently presides over the family run Vidya Pratishthan Group of Educational Institution as its treasurer apart from heading the Sharayu Sugar Mill established by his father at Kapshi, near Phaltan.

Sharad Pawar is known as one of the very few leaders who are able to identify an opportunity even in the most challenging situations. At a time when his party has been taken away by his nephew and his daughter's political fortunes are under threat, he is said to have hit two targets with one stone by projecting Yugendra.

One, since the split, Ajit Pawar has constantly claimed that he was kept away from becoming the party chief only because he was a nephew and not Sharad Pawar's son. By now bringing Yugendra, Ajit Pawar's own nephew in the limelight, senior Pawar seems to have countered his estranged nephew's claims in a very subtle manner.

Two, analysts beleive that by projecting Yugendra, Sharad Pawar was signalling that there are many other young successors to carry forward his family legacy apart from his other grandnephew Rohit Pawar, currently a legislator from the Karjat-Jamkhed seat.

Why Can't Baramati Have A Non-Pawar MP?

Baramati's historical allegiance to the Pawar family has made it challenging for any non-Pawar candidate to secure victory in the Lok Sabha constituency. Right from 1996, the seat has been firmly held by Sharad Pawar first and later by his daughter Supriya Sule.

However, it is pertinent to note here that with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gaining an upper hand in the state politics as well as Centre, Supriya Sule's winning margin saw a decline in both the 2014 and 2019 polls, indicating a growing challenge to the Pawar hegemony in Baramati.

For instance, in the 2014 elections, Sule witnessed a 17 per cent dip in her vote share when the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition fielded Dhangar community leader Mahadev Jankar from the seat. This was done considering that the constituency had a strong Dhangar population.

Later in the 2019 polls, when BJP fielded Kanchan Kul against Sule, the former secured 530,940 votes against 686,714 votes won by the latter. Kul's performance then had only underscored the fact that the political landscape in Baramati is evolving, and the traditional dominance of the Pawar family is not invincible.

However, despite the challenges posed by opponents, the Pawar family's deep-rooted connections, coupled with their longstanding influence in the region, have made it a formidable task for any non-Pawar candidate to break the family's hold on Baramati.

With both Mahayuti leaders, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, keen to prove their mettle against Sharad Pawar, who is still seen as the most influential figure in state politics, this time in Baramati it's a do-or-die battle for both coalitions.