OPINION | Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: First families at war
The most spectacular contest will be in Baramati, where Ajit ‘Dada’ Pawar will be facing Sharad Pawar’s grandson Yugendra Pawar. Ajit Pawar has been consistently winning this seat since 1991, and he has been an MLA for 33 years.
There was a flurry of nominations by close kin of top political leaders of Maharashtra, as filing of nominations for assembly polls closed on Tuesday. Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi and BJP-led Mahayuti were still locked in consultations to iron out differences over the remaining seats. On Monday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, former CM Prithviraj Chavan, former CM Ashok Chavan’s daughter Srijaya Chavan, MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s son Amit Thackeray, Nawab Malik’s daughter Sana Malik, Late Baba Siddiqui’s son Zeeshan Siddiqui, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi and several others filed nominations. NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar himself accompanied his grandson Yugendra Pawar in Baramati, who is contesting against his grand uncle Ajit Pawar. There were reports of local rebellion in several parties. As of now, Congress expects to field more than 105 candidates, though it has announced names of 102 candidates, while Shiv Sena (UBT) has announced 84 and NCP(Sharad Pawar) 82 candidates. 18 seats are still left undecided in MVA.
The most spectacular contest will be in Baramati, where Ajit ‘Dada’ Pawar will be facing Sharad Pawar’s grandson Yugendra Pawar. Ajit Pawar has been consistently winning this seat since 1991, and he has been an MLA for 33 years. Ajit Pawar admitted that he made a mistake by fielding his wife Sunetra to contest against Supriya Sule during the Lok Sabha elections, but this time people will ‘punish’ Sharad Pawar for committing the same mistake. Yugendra Pawar is contesting elections for the first time in his life. After filing the nomination, Yugendra described his grandpa Sharad Pawar as his ‘guru’ and ‘markdarshak’. Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule said the fight in Baramati is between ideologies and not between members of a family.
But the real fact is: the fight is in the family and it could be a tough and close contest. It was Ajit Pawar who trained the NCP cadre in Baramati for 33 years, and this time, he has the support of BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. That is why Ajit Pawar looks confident, but he also understands that his uncle Sharad Pawar has been doing politics in Baramati for 59 years and he has proved his mettle during the Lok Sabha elections. The Baramati result will prove to be a game-changer for Ajit Pawar’s political career, and as far as Sharad Pawar is concerned, the result from Baramati will decide to which camp the real NCP belongs.
The second most interesting battle will be in Kopri Pachpakhri seat of Thane, where Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be facing Kedar Dighe, the nephew of his political guru Anand Dighe. Kedar Dighe has been fielded by Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. Deputy CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who accompanied Eknath Shinde on his roadshow on Monday, said, “mere blood relation does not make anybody a successor. A successor emerges only by dint of his work and thoughts and Eknath Shinde is the real successor of Anand Dighe”. Eknath Shinde has been consistently winning this seat since 2009 and in the last election, he got more than 65 per cent votes. Thane is considered the citadel of Eknath Shinde, and his party candidate Naresh Mhaske had won this year’s Lok Sabha elections.
The third interesting battle is in Mahim, Mumbai, where Raj Thackeray’s son Amit will be testing the electoral waters for the first time. He is facing Mahesh Sawant of Shiv Sena (UBT). Uddhav’s son Aaditya Thackeray is contesting from Worli, where MNS has fielded a candidate in a tit-for-tat action.
Overall, people will be witnessing interesting intra-dynasty battles this time. It was Ajit Pawar who was fielded by his uncle Sharad Pawar from Baramati 33 years ago, and now the tide has turned. Sharad Pawar has fielded his grandson to defeat his nephew Ajit this time. Sharad Pawar wants to tell the people of Maharashtra, who is the real ‘Dada’ of Pawar dynasty. Similarly, Anand Dighe had anointed Eknath Shinde as his successor in Shiv Sena, but now Anand Dighe’s nephew will be challenging Eknath Shinde. Raj Thackeray used to consider himself the real successor of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, but now he has fielded his son to defeat his cousin Udhav Thackeray’s candidate. So, one would be watching a battle between brothers in Mahim.
Baba Siddiqui’s son Zeeshan is going to get the sympathy vote after the murder of his father, and he is going to claim his father’s legacy. For Sana Malik, his father Nawab Malik’s cases can pose problems. On the other hand, Anil Deshmukh is seeking votes for his son by telling voters about the cases filed against him. In Maharashtra politics, sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, grandsons and granddaughters are all in the fray. It is a situation where nobody will be raising the issue of dynastic politics this time.
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