"Baramati has always backed Sharad Pawar": Yugendra Pawar confident of victory against uncle Ajit Pawar

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], October 29 (ANI): NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Yugendra Pawar on Tuesday exuded confidence on his victory from Baramati emphasizing the strong support for Sharad Pawar and his dominance in the constituency.

The Baramati constituency in Maharashtra is again going to witness a high-stakes family battle as NCP leader Ajit Pawar will face his nephew Yugendra Pawar. He is the son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother Shrinivas Pawar.
Notably, Baramati also witnessed a high-profile battle in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Sunetra Pawar contested against NCP (SCP) candidate Supriya Sule. The latter won the contest by 1.5 lakh votes.

Yugendra Pawar, who is contesting elections from Baramati against his uncle Ajit Pawar said that the latter won elections from the constituency earlier because he was backed by NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar which is not the case right now.

After the announcement of the candidature from the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Chandra Pawar Party on behalf of Mahavikas Aghadi for the Baramati Assembly Constituency, Yugendra Pawar filed his nomination form yesterday.

On Deputy CM Ajit Pawar being confident of his victory, Yugendra Pawar said, "That is his (Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, NCP candidate against him) view, it could be his personal view. But that does not mean that is the general view of Baramati at large...His mother is my grandmother, I have a different emotion with her. I think it is wrong to involve her inside our politics. Whatever feeling I have about her, should be separate from politics...Let's keep relations and my grandmother safe - wherever she is and not involve her in politics".
Targeting Ajit Pawar, Yugendra Pawar said, "I am confident of winning because each time he won, it was because Pawar Sahab was backing him and today, Pawar Sahab is backing me and people of Baramati have always backed Pawar Sahab."
Yugendra's mother Sharmila Pawar said that the people would repose their faith in Sharad Pawar's decision to field Yugendra.
"Today is a big day for all Baramatikars, not only for me or my husband or Yugendra. You can see the love for Pawar sahib, Supriya Tai and Yugendra dada the whole Pawar family here. The people of Baramati are very intelligent and they have already made their decision. They voted for Supriya Tai in Lok Sabha (polls) and I am 100% sure that they will vote for Yugendra Pawar...Mr Pawar is the head of the family and a father figure, I think whatever decisions taken during Lok Sabha will be carried forward. This is politics and as a leader one needs to stick to a decision...Me and Srinivas have given our child to the people of Baramati," she said.
Yugendra's father questioned Ajit Pawar's ideology and his decision to make his wife contest the Lok Sabha polls against Supriya Sule.
"All our family members start from here, it is a family tradition. ...Why did he (Ajit Pawar) field his wife from the constituency when everyone was telling him not to do so? His (Ajit Pawar) party and ideology have changed as he believes in BJP's ideology now. The people of Baramati will take the correct decision which we will see on 23rd November," he said.

Last week, NCP announced a list of 45 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi -- comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress -- are leaving no stone unturned to secure victory in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

The BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance alongside the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42. (ANI)