The society does not like rifts in families, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar said on Friday, adding that he had admitted that fielding his wife against his cousin in the Lok Sabha elections was a mistake, PTI reported.
The deputy chief minister of Maharashtra made the comment at a rally in Gadchiroli while trying to dissuade Bhagyashree Atram Halgekar, the daughter of party leader and state minister Dharmarao Baba Atram, from joining the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.
This came amid speculation that the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) could field Halgekar against her father in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls. Atram is the MLA from Gadchiroli’s Aheri constituency.
“Nobody loves a daughter more than her father,” Ajit Pawar said. “Despite giving her away in marriage in Belgaum, he [Atram] stood by her in Gadchiroli and made her the president of Zilla Parishad. Now you [Halgekar] are set to fight against your own father. Is this right?”
He urged Halgekar to support Atram and help him win the election.
Ajit Pawar said that the political rift between Halgekar and her father would be similar to breaking the family.
“The society never accepts breaking one’s own family,” he said. “Society doesn’t like this. I have experienced the same and accepted my mistake.”
This is the second time in less than a month that Ajit Pawar has publicly expressed regret about fielding his wife, Sunetra Pawar, against his cousin Supriya Sule in the general election, stating that politics should not interfere with family matters.
Sunetra Pawar lost to Sule in the state’s Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. Sule had contested as a candidate of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).
In July 2023, Ajit Pawar, along with several party MLAs, joined the state’s Mahayuti coalition government comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Ajit Pawar was made the deputy chief minister.
The move led to a split in the Nationalist Congress Party, with one faction supporting Ajit Pawar and the other backing his uncle Sharad Pawar.
Sharad Pawar’s faction had contested the Lok Sabha polls as part of the Opposition INDIA bloc, which includes Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Congress in Maharashtra.
Ajit Pawar’s faction received a drubbing in the polls, winning only one out of the four parliamentary seats it contested in Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar’s group won eight of the ten seats in contested in the state.
While Maharashtra is expected to head for Assembly elections later this year, the Election Commission has not yet announced the poll schedule.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!