INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
PUNE: Now that the battle lines are drawn in the NCP, a victory in the Lok Sabha election next year from Baramati could be tough for Sharad
Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, a three-time member of Parliament.The split in the NCP with her cousin Ajit leading one faction and her
father the other, and their strained ties could affect her prospects now."I am confident that people will appreciate my work.Voters are the
real bosses in a democracy
So, I will reach out to them," Sule told TOI.She said she has carried out a number of development projects in the constituency and her
performance has received recognition from Parliament and from various agencies and she has been honoured for her work.One of the biggest LS
constituencies in the state, Baramati has over six lakh voters in a mix of urban and rural populations.Of the six MLAs representing it, only
two are from NCP, one is Ajit Pawar and the other is Indapur MLA Dattatraya Bharane.03:42Sharad Pawar on Ajit Pawar's meeting: 'Those using
my image are aware that they have nothing else'Khadakwalsa's Bhimrao Tapkir and Daund's Rahul Kul are from the BJP
The other two are Congressmen Sanjay Jagtap in Purandar and Sangram Thopte in Bhor.Kul said that BJP has already started preparing the
ground against the NCP in Baramati
The change of guard at the state will strengthen their efforts, he added
"We are working at the booth level
Our party will focus on speeding up stalled development works in the constituency
People will vote in our party's favour," he said.Baramati has been Sharad Pawar's bastion for decades
He had represented it six times since 1984
Sule won the seat in 2019, polling 1.56 lakh more votes against the BJP candidate
She had won it in 2014 and 2009
Of late, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman and state unit chief of BJP Chandrashekhar Bawankule have given special attention to
If the Ajit Pawar camp, which currently appears to be against Sule, decides not to support her in the 2024 polls, securing a victory will be
a challenge.Though Congress is NCP's partner in Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Jagtap and Thopte have been political opponents of Sharad
Pawar, adding to Sule's worries
In his press conference on Sunday, hours after his nephew's rebellion, the NCP chief, said the split will not hamper family relationships
"Our party has split, but the family is not divided," he said, while replying to a query about his nephew Ajit Pawar
Pawar had ruled out the possibility that Sule was getting elected from the constituency due to the family legacy
"People would not have elected her three times if she had not performed well
Voters have seen her work," he said.
