Ajit Pawar says not keen on contesting Maharashtra polls, may name son in Baramati fray

MUMBAI: After expressing his regrets over fielding his spouse against his sister Supriya Sule from the Baramati Lok Sabha elections, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said on Thursday that he was not much interested in contesting the Baramati seat in the assembly polls due this year.

In an interaction with the media in Pune, he said his son Jay Pawar was taking rounds of Baramati, stressing that in a democracy, each one has the right to contest elections. “I have contested the Baramati elections 7-8 times. So, I am not much interested this time.

If there is a demand for Jay, then the party’s parliamentary board can discuss and decide it,” said Ajit. Ajit’s spouse Sunetra lost the Lok sabha election by over 1.5 lakh votes in Baramati LS constituency. She also trailed by over 50,000 votes from the Baramati state assembly segment where Ajit Pawar has been MLA eight times.

During the campaign, Ajit had told people of Baramati that if they did not vote for his spouse despite so much of development work, then he would not contest the assembly polls.

The Sharad-Pawar led NCP plans to field Yugendra Pawar, the son of Sriniwas Pawar who is brother of Ajit Pawar. Yugendra has been travelling with Sharad Pawar and has expressed his desire to contest the assembly elections if the party allows him.

Ajit recently admitted his blunder by fielding his spouse against his sister Supriya Sule in the Lok Sabha elections in Baramati.