“Taking All Responsibility…” Ajit Pawar Comments On NCP’s Poor Performance In Electoral Poll (image-facebook/Ajit Pawar)

Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra witnessed a fierce battle between the Shiv Sena factions during the Lok Sabha election. The keenly watched constituency during the poll is the bastion of the Pawar family.

Sharad Pawar’s daughter and sitting MP Supriya Sule was fielded against her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. However, the tussle within the family concluded with Supriya Sule retaining the seat for a fourth consecutive term.

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Addressing the defeat in the ‘prestige battle’, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday expressed his shock and surprise over the setback his party received from his hometown.

“I am surprised and shocked over the defeat of Sunetra. I have been contesting elections from Baramati since 1991, I was never defeated,” he said. Continuing further, Ajit Pawar said that the people of Baramati have always stood by him, and he will take up the responsibility for the NCP’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls.

Defying all speculation that the legislators in his faction are planning to defect to Sharad Pawar’s NCP, he said: “The opposition can say anything. I have always had the support of the people. My MLAs, MLCs, have assured they will stand by me”.

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Ajit Pawar also reiterated that it was not right for the state BJP leader Chandrakant Patil to say his priority was to defeat Sharad Pawar in Baramati as the party had to pay a heavy price for his words.

Ajit Pawar said that in his primary analysis of the poll results, he found that Muslims are moving away from the ruling alliance, the opposition’s allegation of change in constitution has distanced the Dalits and other backward classes, and ongoing Maratha quota agitation are some of the reasons for their poor performance.

While commenting on the win of Supriya Sule for the fourth consecutive time where her father had won 14 times, NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar said that he had little doubt about his daughter’s victory over Baramati. Pawar further said that he was confident that Baramatikars would always remain as loyal as they were for the past 60 years.