KOLHAPUR/PUNE: NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Monday encountered Ajit Pawar at Karad’s Preeti Sangam, the memorial of Maharashtra’s first CM Yashwantrao Chavan, where the NCP chief told him that his absence on the Karjat-Jamkhed poll pitch for campaigning aided the young politician’s victory
Ajit Pawar asked Rohit to touch his feet, and the younger politician complied.Telling his nephew that he (Rohit) had narrowly avoided defeat in Karjat-Jamkhed, Ajit Pawar asked what would have happened had he (Ajit Pawar) campaigned in the constituency. “Shanya thodkyat vachlas. Majhi sabha jhali asti tar kay jhala asta. Best of luck,” said Ajit Pawar to his nephew, who responded with a smile and moved on.
Rohit later acknowledged that if Ajit Pawar had campaigned against him, the situation would have been different. “He is my uncle, therefore, I touched his feet. There are ideological differences at present, but in our culture, we respect our elders. He also helped me in the 2019 election. In this land of Yashwantrao Chavan, one should not discriminate. Had he (Ajit Pawar) campaigned against me, it would have made a difference to some extent. But he was busy in Baramati. He was stuck there. He could have come to my constituency… he is a big politician. Now he has got more strength, I have congratulated him,” said Rohit.
Ajit Pawar later said he would have sought the blessings of his uncle Sharad Pawar, whom he missed meeting by just a few minutes as he was brought in from another route. “I was upset with the security personnel. They should have brought me from the other route. I could have had ‘darshan of Saheb’. Touching the feet of elders is our culture, especially when one is standing at the memorial of Yashwantrao Chavan, who laid the foundation of cultured politics,” said Ajit Pawar.
He, however, minced no words in attacking Sharad Pawar for fielding his own nephew (Yugendra) against him. “I have repeatedly said that I had made a mistake by fielding Sunetra against Supriya Sule from Baramati in the Lok Sabha polls. Yet, he (Sharad Pawar) fielded someone who is not associated with politics against me. Instead, he should have given a chance to any of the party workers. He had also made Dharmarao Baba Atram’s daughter contest against her father. Here in Baramati, he made my nephew contest against me. He tried to field Rajendra Shingane’s niece against her uncle. In many places, he made someone from the family contest against another member of the family,” said Ajit Pawar.
Meanwhile, picking up on Rohit and Ajit Pawar’s conversation in Karad, Karjat-Jamkhed’s BJP candidate Ram Shinde — who lost the election to Rohit Pawar by 1,243 votes — blamed the NCP chief for his defeat. Shinde claimed his opponent had his uncle Ajit Pawar’s tacit support, and together they hatched a conspiracy to defeat him.
Shinde on Monday said, “There was an unwritten agreement between Ajit Pawar and Rohit Pawar, even before the announcement of the election. They hatched a conspiracy and I was the victim.”
Shinde said, “I knew of their plan. Now that Ajit Pawar has openly admitted that it was a preplanned conspiracy, I am speaking about it.” On whether he will complain to party seniors, Shinde said, “I have already escalated the issue and I will meet them again.”
The BJP member added that he will submit an application to the Ahilyanagar district collector about re-verification of the counting. “I objected to the counting and demanded a recount on Saturday, but by the time the returning officer received it, the result had been announced. I have filed a fresh application to verify the counting,” Shinde said.