In a significant political remark amid Thursday’s Baramati Assembly bypoll, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Rohit Pawar said that a merger of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) would have been possible, and potentially propelled Ajit Pawar to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s post in 2029, had he been alive.
Speaking to the media after casting his vote in Baramati, Rohit Pawar said there was now little relevance in reviving discussions about a merger following the former Maharashtra Deputy CM’s death.
The Baramati bypoll was necessitated after Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash near his constituency on January 28.
Rohit Pawar further noted that an analysis of Ajit Pawar’s speeches during the recent local body elections shows that many of the then deputy chief minister**’s** remarks were critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), indicating a complex political stance despite his alliance with the ruling coalition.
“Had two NCP factions come together, I am pretty sure that in 2029, Ajit Pawar would have become the chief minister of Maharashtra,” Rohit Pawar claimed.
Before his death, talks of a possible reunion between the two NCP factions were at their peak, but the discussions lost momentum after the tragic incident and subsequent political developments. Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, later took oath as the deputy CM in the Mahayuti government, stepping into his role.
Pawar vs Pawar battle possible in Baramati in 2029
The NCP had split in 2022 when Ajit Pawar led a rebellion within the party and joined hands with Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, becoming the deputy CM of Maharashtra.
Rohit Pawar further stated that in 2029, one cannot rule out the Pawar versus Pawar fight in Baramati as some people are working to end the Pawar family clout in the region. The remark was seen as a veiled attack on the BJP and its allies, who are not able to make inroads in Baramati, the bastion of the Pawar clan.
“The people of Baramati are with the Pawars. But, some elements are trying their best to ensure that the Pawar family loses its grip in the region,” Rohit Pawar added. The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA was responding to Ajit Pawar’s son Jay Pawar’s statement that in 2029, people want him to contest the polls.