Maharashtra polls: Yugendra Pawar to make debut from Baramati against uncle Ajit Pawar?

Politics is heating up again in Baramati ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls amid speculations of a potential contest between Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and his nephew Yugendra Pawar, a member of the third generation of the Pawar clan. The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) has not yet declared a list of its candidates for the November 20 assembly elections, but speculation on probable nominees is rife in various constituencies, including Baramati.

Yugendra, 32, is the grand nephew of veteran leader Sharad Pawar and son of Ajit Pawar’s brother Shrinivas Pawar. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Northeastern University, Boston.

Yugendra has been close to the Pawar family patriarch.

Baramati, the traditional bastion of the Pawar family, witnessed a riveting contest in the recent Lok Sabha elections between Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar and her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, the sitting MP and daughter of Sharad Pawar. The bitter contest against the backdrop of the family feud triggered by Ajit Pawar’s rebellion in July 2023, led to Sunetra’s defeat.

The NCP headed by Ajit Pawar is a part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance. The party has not yet declared its nominees.

Yugendra has been preparing the political ground for himself under Sharad Pawar’s tutelage which was reflected in the launch of Swabhiman Yatra in Baramati in September.

Yugendra is the Treasurer of Vidya Pratishtan, an educational institute founded by Sharad Pawar. During the last Lok Sabha polls, Yugendra campaigned for Sule, while his father criticised Ajit for deserting Sharad Pawar and joining the Mahayuti government with other NCP leaders. Political circles were abuzz with rumours on whether Ajit Pawar would choose to contest from the Baramati assembly segment again in the November 20 assembly elections. Senior NCP leader Praful Patel recently scotched these reports and declared Ajit Pawar’s candidature from the traditional seat he has represented multiple times. When asked whether he is ready to replace Ajit Pawar in Baramati, Yugendra evaded a direct reply. “I am not interested in replacing anyone and I don’t want to oppose anyone,” Yugendra said even as he hinted that he would not shy away from an electoral contest. According to Yugendra, the people of Baramati, including himself, are loyal to Sharad Pawar and he couldn’t think of deserting his grandfather. “Pawar saheb and people will decide whether I should go to the state assembly,” Yugendra told a Marathi news portal. He said the Swabhimani Yatra was organised to reach out to the people of Baramati and remind them of Sharad Pawar’s ideology. “Self-esteemed people of Baramati didn’t like the things that happened with Pawar saheb,” he said. Yugendra, however, said he had not spoken with Sharad Pawar about his candidature from Baramati yet. “We have not spoken about the candidature since Sharad Pawar has not visited Baramati. I will speak (on this issue) when he visits Baramati,” he added. Yugendra said NCP (SP) workers are reaching out to the common people, replicating the campaigning template adopted during Lok Sabha elections when they canvassed for Sule. He claims the sentiment that prevailed in the Lok Sabha elections is intact in Baramati. “On the contrary, the feeling of fear has vanished and people are forthcoming,” Yugendra claimed in a veiled attack on his uncle and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. In the Lok Sabha elections, Sule secured the lead against her rival from five out of six assembly segments, including Baramati, under the Baramati parliamentary constituency. Sule clinched victory by more than 1.50 lakh votes. She polled 7,32,312 votes, 45,000 more than the number of votes she had secured in the 2019 elections.