Maha Assembly polls: Ajit Pawar to take on two nephews in Baramati, Karjat-Jamkhed

Mumbai, Oct 29 (IANS) Although NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is locked in a direct fight against his nephew and NCP(SP) nominee Yogendra Pawar on his home turf, Baramati, he has joined hands with BJP and Shiv Sena to checkmate his another nephew and Sharad Pawar faction nominee Rohit Pawar from Karjat-Jamkhed constituency in Ahilyanagar district (erstwhile Ahmednagar).

With this, Ajit Pawar is gearing up for a fight against two nephews -- Yogendra Pawar and Rohit Pawar.

NCP insiders said that while Ajit Pawar is leaving no stone unturned for his victory in Baramati, he is also making all efforts to corner Rohit Pawar, who is pitted against the BJP nominee and former Minister Ram Shinde. In Baramati, his trump card is development while in Karjat-Jamkhed, Ajit Pawar will sing BJP’s tune of a fight between an outsider Rohit Pawar and a 'bhoomiputra (son of the soil)' Ram Shinde.

Rohit Pawar, who hails from Baramati, was elected from Karjat-Jamkhed in the 2019 Assembly elections by defeating Ram Shinde from the same constituency. Thereafter, the BJP rehabilitated Ram Shinde and nominated him to the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

During the 2019 elections, Ajit Pawar, who was in the united NCP, worked hard for Rohit’s victory. However, the equations changed after Ajit Pawar deserted his uncle and mentor Sharad Pawar and joined hands with BJP and Shiv Sena in the MahaYuti in June 2023. Ajit Pawar is expected to hold rallies in Ram Shinde’s support in addition to the BJP's planning to organise a joint rally of the MahaYuti in Karjat-Jamkhed.

The rift between Ajit Pawar and Rohit Pawar has surfaced since then on several issues, including the allocation of funds from the budget and district planning and development council and water from irrigation projects. In addition, Rohit Pawar was isolated over his demand for the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation-run industrial estate to be established in Karjat-Jamkhed. Ajit Pawar sided with Industry Minister Uday Samant and BJP legislator Ram Shinde so that Rohit Pawar should not get the credit for the new industrial estate. Ahead of the announcement of the poll schedule, the state government cleared the industrial estate there.

In addition, the fight between Rohit Pawar and Ram Shinde is likely to be painted as a fight between the nominees from Maratha and Dhangar communities. Rohit Pawar comes from the politically influential Maratha community while Ram Shinde belongs to the Dhangar community, which has been demanding reservation from the Scheduled Tribes category. Both these communities have toughened their stands on the quota issue. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had recently announced that the Dhangar community will be provided reservation from the ST category and a government resolution will be released treating Dhangar and Dhangad as one and the same. However, none of these decisions were actually taken as they remained mere political rhetoric.

The stalemate over Maratha and Dhangar reservations is expected to find a resonance among the voters of Karjat-Jamkhed as both Rohit Pawar and Ram Shinde would make efforts to refer to these during the campaign to garner votes.

(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)

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