Pawar vs Pawar in Baramati: NCP fields Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra against sister-in-law Supriya Sule
Mumbai, Mar 30: Baramati constituency, the home turf of Sharad Pawar, is set for a high-profile battle, with the Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday fielding Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, against her sister-in-law and the Pawar senior's daughter Supriya Sule.
In her first reaction, Sunetra Pawar, 60, said this was a lucky day for her.
"I thank Narendra Modiji, Amit Shah, and all leaders of Mahayuti (Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP) for considering me capable of fighting the election," Sunetra Pawar told a Marathi news channel.
"Voters have taken the fight in their hands," she said when asked about facing off with Sule.
The announcement of her candidature was made by Maharashtra NCP unit president Sunil Tatkare, hours after the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) declared its first list of five candidates for Lok Sabha elections from Maharashtra.
The NCP(SP) retained Supriya Sule from Baramati and fielded Nilesh Lanke, who switched sides from the Ajit Pawar camp, from the Ahmednagar constituency.
Among the five names declared by the Sharad Pawar camp are sitting MP Amol Kolhe (Shirur constituency), Bhaskar Bhagre (Dindori), and former Congress MLA Amar Kale (Wardha).
Bhagre will square off against Union minister and sitting BJP MP Bharati Pawar in Dindori (ST) seat.
Lanke, the sitting MLA from Parner, will face off against BJP MP Sujay Vikhe Patil from the Ahmednagar constituency.
Meanwhile, Tatkare said the battle in Baramati is of ideology and principles, and not a family one
With Sunetra Pawar, a novice in electoral politics, in the field, Baramati is set to witness a first-of-its-kind Pawar versus Pawar battle, post the split in the party founded by the Pawar senior in 1999.
The real fight lies between Ajit Pawar, who joined the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government last July, and his uncle Sharad Pawar, a wily and battle-hardened politician.
The Baramati Lok Sabha constituency includes six assembly segments Baramati town, Indapur, Daund, Purandar, Bhor and Khadakwasla.
Bhor and Purandar assembly segments are with Congress, Baramati and Indapur were won by NCP (undivided), while BJP represents Daund and Khadakwasala.
Sharad Pawar has won the Baramati LS constituency multiple times in the past. He has a committed voter base and enjoys immense goodwill among people.
In the 2019 elections, Supriya Sule scored a hat-trick of winning the Baramati constituency as NCP nominee.
Even before Sunetra Pawar's name was formally announced, she had started campaigning and meeting various social groups.
On the other hand, to guard his home turf, Sharad Pawar recently visited the family of Congress legislator Sangram Thopte and met his father Anantrao Thopte, an old rival.
NCP (SP), part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), also comprising Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, will contest 10 seats in Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to Lok Sabha
Baramati goes for polls in the third phase on May 7.
For Sule, 54, this will be the first Lok Sabha election wherein the NCP cadre will be split between loyalists of the Pawar senior and Ajit Pawar.
It was Ajit, the sitting MLA from the Baramati assembly segment, who used to play a key role in Sule's victory in the past polls by ensuring that the vote bank of the Pawars remained unaffected.
Like his daughter, Sharad Pawar, 83, is also touring the constituency and holding meetings with various groups in a bid to leave nothing for chance.
While Sule is relying on voters loyal to the Pawar clan and her work as a Lok Sabha member, Ajit can draw additional support from the cadres of Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Bharatiya Janata Party.
Notably, the BJP had identified Baramati as one of the tough constituencies in the past.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate Kanchan Kul, wife of Daund MLA Rahul Kul, lost to Sule by a margin of over 1.55 lakh votes.
Ajit Pawar had dropped enough hints that Sunetra Pawar will be fielded from Baramati.
However, with Shiv Sena leader Vijay Shivtare from Pune district launching a diatribe against Ajit Pawar and throwing his hat in the poll ring to contest as an Independent, it appeared that Sule may have an advantage over Sunetra.
However, Shivtare was persuaded against contesting by CM Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
"Over 1.5 lakh votes will now be given to the clock' symbol (of NCP). An election campaign will be run with full strength. I would like to thank Ajit Dada as he was also present during the meeting (Mumbai)," Shivtare told reporters earlier in the day on Saturday.
The margin of Sule's victory in Baramati in her maiden contest for Lok Sabha in 2009 was 3,36,831 against BJP nominee Kanta Nalawade. In 2014, the margin plunged to 69,719 when Rashtriya Samaj Paksha leader Mahadev Jankar was Sule's challenger.
Jankar, a prominent leader from the Dhangar community, is now supporting the Mahayuti alliance.
In 2019, Sule's vote tally increased to 6,86,714 with a vote share of 52.63% and she won by a margin of over 1.55 lakh votes.
Sunetra is probably the second member of Ajit Pawar's family to contest the LS elections. In 2019, Ajit's son Parth contested from Maval seat in the Pune district but fell out against Shiv Sena's Shrirang Barne.
Sunetra Pawar comes from a political family in Marathwada. She is a sister of Padamsinh Patil, a former minister. Earlier with Congress, Patil later joined Sharad Pawar when the latter founded NCP in 1999.
For Ajit, the contest lies between himself and the Pawar clan. Even his younger brother Srinivas Pawar has sided with Sharad Pawar.
Winning the high-stakes battle is important for Ajit to cement his position in the Mahayuti alliance where he shares space with Shiv Sena and BJP.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
