Baramati should get an MLA other than me: Ajit Pawar
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said Baramati should get MLA other than him so that they can compare and get true idea of development work undertaken by him in the constituency
PUNE: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday made an emotional pitch as he told his Baramati constituents that they should once get a member of legislative assembly (MLA) other than him so that they can then compare and get a true idea of the development work undertaken by him in the constituency.
Ajit Pawar was addressing an event in Baramati when he said, “We have carried out all-round development in Baramati. Most funds in Maharashtra are sanctioned for Baramati. I am now 65 years’ old and I am satisfied. Baramatikars should once get someone other than me as MLA. They can then compare between the (work carried out by the) new MLA and me.”
Ajit Pawar’s speech was punctuated by cries of “We want Ajit Dada to continue as our MLA” from his supporters who were present on the occasion.
Ajit Pawar has been the MLA of Baramati since 1991. He won the 2019 assembly polls against the Bhartiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Gopichand Padalkar by a record margin of over 1.65 lakh votes.
Earlier on Saturday, Ajit Pawar acknowledged again that fielding his wife Sunetra Pawar against NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule from the Baramati Lok Sabha (LS) seat in the 2024 general elections was a ‘mistake’, adding that politics should not enter one’s home. The day before on Friday at Gadchiroli, Ajit Pawar admitted that it was a mistake on his part to cause a rift in the family.
The deputy chief minister’s remarks came amid attempts to dissuade state minister Dharamrao Baba Atram’s daughter Bhagyashri from joining the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the NCP.
Sharad Pawar has been part of the ‘Jan Sanman Yatra’ in the leadup to the assembly elections in the state. Hindustan Times had reported that Ajit Pawar’s younger son Jay Pawar is being projected as a possible candidate from Baramati after his father reportedly said that he wasn’t keen on contesting polls from the seat again. When asked about being projected as a possible candidate from Baramati, Jay said, “Any decision on this will be taken by Ajit Dada and I will obey it.”
The Ajit Pawar-led NCP has been wooing women voters across its home turf by highlighting the state government’s cash support programme, Ladki Bahin Yojana. The programme provides monthly assistance of ₹1,500 to married, divorced, and destitute women in the age group of 21 to 60 years with an annual family income of not more than ₹2.5 lakh.