Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar stirred the political pot on Monday with a cheeky remark directed at his nephew, NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Rohit Pawar, suggesting that if he had campaigned in Karjat Jamkhed, Rohit’s narrow victory might have been a different story.
In the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly elections, Rohit Pawar narrowly retained his Karjat Jamkhed seat in Ahilyanagar district, defeating the BJP’s Ram Shinde by just 1,243 votes. On Monday, during an event marking the death anniversary of Y. B. Chavan, Maharashtra’s first chief minister, the two Pawars came face-to-face at Chavan’s memorial.
Congratulating his nephew, Ajit Pawar joked, “Take my blessings. You barely survived. Had I held a rally in Karjat Jamkhed, imagine what would have happened.” In response, Rohit Pawar touched his uncle’s feet and later referred to him as a “father figure,” despite their political differences.
Rohit, addressing reporters, acknowledged the weight of his uncle’s words. “It is true that things would have been different had Ajit Pawar campaigned in my constituency. However, he was occupied with his work in Baramati and couldn’t make it to Karjat Jamkhed,” he said.
Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction delivered a strong performance in the elections, winning 41 seats, while the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) faltered, securing only 10 seats. Ajit Pawar himself won the Baramati seat by a landslide, defeating his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar by over one lakh votes.
This latest exchange highlights the ongoing tension within the fractured NCP, which split last year when Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP coalition, a move that sharply divided the party and pitted him against his uncle and party founder Sharad Pawar.
While political banter continues between the two factions, the Pawar family’s public display of respect reflects a complex dynamic of personal bonds and professional rivalry, playing out against the backdrop of Maharashtra’s ever-shifting political landscape.
