A day after reports surfaced that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had ‘admitted’ to making a mistake by fielding his wife Sunetra against his cousin Supriya Sule in the Lok Sabha elections, senior NCP leader Praful Patel stated on Wednesday that it would be inappropriate for him to comment, as it is a family matter of Mr. Pawar.
Supriya Sule, the daughter of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, defeated Sunetra Pawar in the Baramati Lok Sabha seat by over 1.5 lakh votes. Ajit Pawar, who had split from the NCP to join the BJP and Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena last year, had turned the Baramati seat into a prestige contest by choosing his wife as the candidate.
While Ajit Pawar’s faction of the NCP, which kept the party’s name and symbol, secured one Lok Sabha seat, Sharad Pawar’s faction won eight seats.
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Speaking on the decision to field Sunetra Pawar against Ms Sule, Mr Pawar had told a Marathi news channel, “I love all my sisters. One shouldn’t allow politics to enter homes. I made a mistake in fielding Sunetra against my sister. This shouldn’t have happened. But the parliamentary board (of NCP) made a decision. Now I feel it was wrong.”
When asked about the statement on Wednesday, Praful Patel, who had supported Ajit Pawar during the rebellion against Sharad Pawar, responded, “It is his personal matter, his family’s matter. He is a senior leader in the state and the president of our party, the NCP. If he has said something, then I do not think it is appropriate for me to say anything more about it.”
When asked if he would visit Ms. Sule on Raksha Bandhan next week, Mr. Pawar responded that, although he is traveling, he will try to meet his sisters if they are in the same location.
Maharashtra Minister Deepak Kesarkar said on Tuesday, “We should not mix family with politics. As a brother, it is his (Ajit Pawar’s) duty to go and celebrate Rakshabandhan. Also, as a political leader, he would be at the forefront of the Mahayuti (the coalition of the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde Faction) and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP) to win elections.”
