AJIT AND SHARAD PAWAR FIGHT REGARDLESS OF WHAT AWAITS SUPRIYA SULE PAWAR POCKET-BOROUGH BARAMATI IS WITNESSING EPIC ELECTORAL SHOWDOWN

In Modi’s India there are no pocket-boroughs, says BJP’s diehard cadre. Except Wayanad in Kerala, which is ‘Rahul Gandhi’s pocket-borough’. Not Amethi, which Rahul gave up to Smriti Irani in 2019 and doesn’t want anymore. A couple of months ago, Sonia Gandhi fled Gandhi family pocket-borough Raebareli, which will now send Rahul Gandhi to the Lok Sabha, another among a string of Nehru-Gandhi MPs elected from the constituency. Wayanad or Raebareli, which one will be Rahul Gandhi’s pocket-borough?

What about Baramati, the Pawar family pocket-borough in Maharashtra? Nope, not anymore. Even the slogan “Ek-e Saheb, Pawar Saheb” sounds out of place in Baramati nowadays. More than Sharad Pawar, it is his daughter Supriya Sule who is missing the Pawar-family pocket-borough tag for Baramati. The 18th Lok Sabha will be missing Supriya Sule is one disturbing thought for Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Another is the assertion that “Ek-e Saheb” should have made way for nephew Ajit Pawar instead of standing on prestige. Now, the Pawars are a family split wide open with Supriya Sule fighting a losing Baramati battle in the fight between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar, who is using his wife to settle scores. But it is Sule’s octogenarian father Sharad Pawar who is being challenged though tens of thousands of loyal voters across the constituency are rallying to the ‘Ek-e Saheb’ call.

Is there a ‘sympathy wave’ favouring Sule’s campaign? An older generation – people in their sixties and seventies and eighties – are still hanging to Sharad Pawar’s coattails. People who haven’t taken kindly to Ajit Pawar’s betrayal of his uncle. People who believe the octogenarian Sharad Pawar has unfinished business with the voters of Baramati. The ‘Battle of Pawars’, where may the older Pawar win is the raging sentiment.

Unconfirmed reports claim money is circulating like a top in Baramati constituency, illegal money and that the differences within the family have spilled over onto the dusty streets and alleys of the constituency. Sharad Pawar’s political adversaries have too much ready cash, the Electoral Bonds Syndrome. How does Rs 5000 per voter sound like, the going rate till about a week and a half ago?

The good news: The Maha Vikas Aghadi hasn’t broken and the challenge to Sharad Pawar from the nephew had further united the MVA. Besides, the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray Shiv Sena was at the forefront of the MVA counterattack. Supriya Sule, if she is among the winning candidates on June 4, will be a fourth-time Member of Parliament from the Baramati parliamentary constituency, which also includes parts of Pune.

Tens of thousands of Baramati voters are asking why Ajit Pawar was playing spoilsport when everybody sees that the 83-year-old uncle is the constituency favourite? Like somebody wrote, “It is for Pawar Saheb to prove that he still remains ‘The Boss’ in the family pocket-borough.”nPeople believe Sharad Pawar is the “shrewdest politician” alive. Modi’s party BJP says Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the shrewdest.

So, defeating Sharad Pawar in Baramati has become a BJP prerogative. Nephew Ajit Pawar was co-opted and the Nationalist Congress Party was “hijacked”. Today, Ajit Pawar pays his respect to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharad Pawar has been left fighting for family honour. Ajit Pawar didn’t like Supriya Sule chosen as Sharad Pawar’s heir apparent. Now, the NCP election symbol ‘Clock’ has gone to Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar’s NCP has been given “man blowing his own trumpet”.

No wonder the Baramati contest is a prestige battle. The contest will decide who will control this cash-stashed slice of western Maharashtra. The voters are split and confused. For far too long, the Pawars had been given a free run. Now the voters are “torn and confused” between uncle and nephew, like in some emotional claptrap movies.

The battle here is rough and tough. But June 4 might throw a surprise. Both uncle and nephew are drawing big crowds and Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar aren’t the focus. Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar are the opposing protagonists. At the end of day, who of the two wins depends on whether Sharad Pawar continues to command the respect of voters. Ajit Pawar is the business end of the stick and he has been “managing Baramati for donkey’s years”.

Ajit Pawar knows where all the bodies are buried. He is also somebody who doesn’t take prisoners. Plus, it is a toss whether Sharad Pawar has lieutenants to match Ajit Pawar’s ruthless streak. The buzz is June 4 will show once and for all who will man the cash counter, so to speak, in the Baramati parliamentary constituency. That being said, at the end of the day, which way the vote swings will decide victory.

Ajit Pawar is “Dada” to his flock. Sharad Pawar is “Pawar Saheb”. Supriya Sule’s disadvantage is that she’s seen as too Delhi-based. Also, Sule banked on “Ajit Dada to win Baramati” in previous elections. The big story is the Pawar family is coming apart and “Pawar Saheb” has gotten old. The clincher is “Ajit Dada” solves all the local problems for all the locals including Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule. Sunetra Pawar is bound to take over Sharad Pawar’s pocket-borough from Sharad Pawar’s 50-year-old control. The Maha Vikas Aghadi will be the worst for it and Sharad Pawar will fade into the sunset.