Baramati’s prestige battle: Will uncle Ajit secure 8th term against nephew Yugendra?

On the eve of polling day on Wednesday, November 20, all eyes are on Baramati where deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar faces a challenge from his nephew Yugendra Pawar. The battle for Baramati is not just between two contestants; it is between two members on opposite sides of the same family over a constituency that has traditionally been that family’s stronghold.

The leadup to the assembly elections has seen allegations and counter-allegations, with Ajit Pawar’s development-focused narrative crashing against Sharad Pawar’s emotional appeal. On the last day of campaigning, Sharad Pawar addressed a rally in support of Yugendra Pawar but avoided any direct personal attack on his estranged nephew, Ajit Pawar. Political observers believe this restraint could either be an attempt to leave room for reconciliation after the election or an attempt to prevent Ajit Pawar from garnering sympathy votes.

For voters too, this is no ordinary election; it is a high-stakes showdown between two factions of the Pawar family whose influence has shaped the region for decades.

For years, Ajit Pawar, fondly referred to as Dada, campaigned with minimal effort, confident of a near-certain victory. This time however, the equation has changed. From hardly campaigning during assembly polls in the family stronghold (Baramati) to rarely missing any campaigning opportunity, Ajit Pawar has taken the 2024 assembly elections very seriously, especially after his wife Sunetra Pawar lost to Supriya Sule during the Lok Sabha (LS) polls held earlier this year.

Avinash Jagtap from Supe, a perennially drought-prone village in Baramati, observed, “Ajit Pawar looks more amenable and is in a new avatar this time.”

What also sets this election apart is the unexpected mobilisation of the members of the Pawar family in support of Yugendra Pawar. Sharad Pawar’s wife, Pratibha Pawar, who typically stays away from active politics, has been seen campaigning for Yugendra Pawar alongside other family members.

Sharad Pawar’s towering reputation as a four-time chief minister of Maharashtra and the architect of Baramati’s development is deeply entrenched in this constituency. Yet, Ajit Pawar, who inherited the seat in 1991 after Sharad Pawar moved to national politics, has carved out his own legacy over the years.

Ajit Pawar is seeking his eighth consecutive term as Baramati’s MLA. This assembly election, however, is the first after his split with his uncle in 2023, when he led 40 MLAs from the then-undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) into an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). His faction has since been recognised as the official NCP.

Many residents credit Ajit Pawar for Baramati’s modern infrastructure, including the development of VP College. “There are many facilities that the college has set up. It makes the institute stand out from the rest,” said Srikrishna Borkar, a teacher. Yet, older voters often reminisce about Sharad Pawar’s role in turning Baramati into a model constituency.

Ramabai Deshmukh, hailing from the agrarian community, said, “Both Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar have contributed to the development here.”

For many voters, this assembly election is not just a choice between Yugendra Pawar and Ajit Pawar but between Saheb (Sharad Pawar) and Dada (Ajit Pawar).

Unlike other constituencies in Maharashtra where welfare schemes like the ‘Chief Minister Ladki Bahin Yojana’ have resonated strongly, Baramati’s political discourse is dominated by the feud within the Pawar family.

But political observers note that the split has only benefitted the Pawar family in a way by further expanding its dynasty as seen in the current contest, where Pawar senior has fielded a member of the family instead of anyone else even as Ajit fielded his wife in the recent LS polls. After Sunetra Pawar lost the LS polls, she was made Rajya Sabha (RS) MP within two months.

As the curtains fell on campaigning for the Maharashtra assembly polls, Baramati, on Monday, witnessed an electrifying showdown. Sharad Pawar, patriarch of the Pawar clan, made a fervent pitch for his grandnephew Yugendra Pawar, while deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar appealed to voters to reject emotional overtures and focus on continuity.

Unlike his speeches at other rallies, Sharad Pawar refrained from directly asking Baramati voters to defeat his estranged nephew Ajit Pawar, who parted ways with him in July 2023 to join the BJP-Shiv Sena government. This was in contrast to his sharp criticism of other senior leaders (of the Nationalist Congress Party/NCP) including Dilip Walse-Patil, whom Pawar labelled a ‘traitor’ and sought to defeat him ‘big’. Instead, the octogenarian highlighted Baramati’s legacy of embracing generational change in leadership.

On his part, Ajit Pawar urged voters not to be swayed by emotional rhetoric. Highlighting his long association with the constituency, Ajit Pawar said, “Baramati voters have trusted me for seven terms. In the past five years, I brought ₹9,000 crore for Baramati’s development. I am confident they will elect me again with the same margin.”