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Among the clashes, the one most keenly watched will be in Baramati, where Ajit Pawar will lock horns with his brother’s son and political greenhorn Yugendra Pawar
Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar’s factions will square off on 36 seats. (PTI)
Maharashtra is all set to witness direct clashes between the Sharad Pawar-headed NCP and that of his nephew-turned-bête noire Ajit Pawar on at least 36 of the 288 seats in the upcoming Maharashtra elections.
Most of these contests will be in the sugar belt of Western Maharashtra, where the two parties will square off in 15 constituencies, followed by the food and fruit bowl of North Maharashtra on seven seats, Deccan Herald reported.
Among the clashes, the one most keenly watched will be in Baramati, where Ajit Pawar will lock horns with his brother’s son and political greenhorn Yugendra Pawar. Pawar Jr has been trained by not just veteran neta Sharad Pawar but also his daughter Supriya Sule who is a four-time MP from Baramati. Voters in this Pawar turf will now have to pick between Ajit Pawar’s experience and Yugendra’s ability to uphold the dignity of the original NCP.
It was 2023 when the NCP split as Ajit Pawar left the party with majority MLAs and joined the ruling Mahayuti alliance. He also claimed the position of NCP president, as well as the party’s name and its electoral symbol. Later, the Election Commission of India (ECI) awarded the party name and symbol to the faction headed by Ajit Pawar, calling it the “original” NCP purely because of the number game.
In the state assembly elections held in 2019, the undivided NCP had registered victory in 53 seats, Hindustan Times reported.
Apart from his grandson, Sr Pawar has fielded Devdutt Nikam from Ambegaon, which is represented by senior NCP minister Dilip Walse Patil — once an aide of the veteran politician. Chhagan Bhujbal will face Manikrao Shinde in the Yeola constituency, while NCP minister Dhananjay Munde will lock horns with Rajesaheb Deshmukh for Parli. Dharamrao Atram is facing competition from his own daughter Bhagyashree for the Aheri seat, and another minister, Aditi Tatkare, is being challenged by NCP (SP) candidate Anil Navghane, HT reported.
According to DH, while the maximum NCP vs NCP (SP) clashes are in Western Maharashtra (15), it is followed by North Maharashtra (7), Marathwada (5), Vidarbha (4), Mumbai (1), larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region (2) and Konkan (2).
The Ajit Pawar faction, meanwhile, has also decided to take the bull by the horns. The party has nominated Nishikant Patil against state NCP (SP) chief Jayant Patil in Islampur, and Najeeb Mulla against NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad in Mumbra-Kalwa. Apart from this, Dnyaneshwar Katke will take on NCP (SP) MLA Ashok Pawar in Shirur.
As per the seat-sharing arrangement, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP got only 51 seats in the Mahayuti, while the Sharad Pawar-led faction will contest on 87 seats in the Maha Vikas Aghadi-led opposition coalition. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the NCP (SP) won eight of the 10 seats it contested, while the NCP won only one seat of the four contested by them.
