Pune: Three-term Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule and her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar Thursday filed their nominations for the Baramati Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra’s Pune district on the NCP (SP) and NCP tickets, respectively.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, husband of Sunetra Pawar, also filed a set nomination papers for the seat, which an NCP functionary described as a back-up plan in case Sunetra Pawar’s nomination does not stand scrutiny or any discrepancy is found in it.
Polling in Baramati, the pocket borough of Pawars, will be held May 7.
Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Vishwajeet Kadam, among others, accompanied Sule, the sitting MP from Baramati and daughter of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, as she filed the nomination papers before the returning officer at the Council Hall in Pune.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and NCP leader Praful Patel were present when Sunetra Pawar, who is making her poll debut, filed her nomination at the Council Hall later in the day.
Addressing a rally after Sule filed her nomination, Sharad Pawar said the BJP government at the Centre had deceived citizens for the past 10 years and had failed to mitigate problems like inflation, unemployment, farm distress and atrocities against women.
“There is a significant disparity between the promises made 10 years ago on these issues and the current reality,” the NCP(SP) chief said.
When Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, the price of petrol was Rs 71 per litre and he had promised to reduce it in 50 days.
“Now, after 3650 days, the price of petrol is 106 per litre. LPG price per cylinder was 410 in 2014 and now it is around 1,000. The Modi government has also failed to create the promised two crore jobs. In fact, the employment rate has declined,” the former Union minister claimed.
The Union government was misusing its power and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren were in jail for merely criticising Modi, he alleged.
Before Sunetra Pawar filed her nomination, the ruling ‘Mahayuti’ constituents – Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde, BJP and Ajit Pawar-headed NCP, also held a rally.
Addressing the rally, Shinde said Modi had once claimed he came into politics holding the finger of Sharad Pawar but the PM managed to change the face of the nation and take it on the path of development once he let go of the finger.
Ajit Pawar also let go of the senior Pawar’s finger and now he and Sunetra Pawar will bring about change in Baramati, the CM said.
“No one can dispute Sharad Pawar’s contribution in the development of Baramati but a lion’s share of hard work is also of Ajit Pawar, who came to the Mahayuti due to his faith in the PM’s leadership,” Shinde said.
Attacking Sharad Pawar over his “outsider” comment on Sunetra Pawar, the CM said people who differentiate between daughter and daughter-in-law can live in their own world because they will achieve nothing.
Ajit Pawar was subjected to injustice (in the undivided NCP) and, therefore, he joined the Mahayuti, Shinde added.
Mocking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the CM said the ISRO had successfully launched Chandrayaan but all attempts of the opposition party to launch the Wayanad MP had failed.
Fadnavis said new history will be created in Baramati as the “daughter-in-law of Baramati” will go to Delhi.
“Every vote for the lotus, clock or bow and arrow will be a vote for Modiji, while every vote given to tutari, mashaal and palm will be for Rahul Gandhi. Citizens of Baramati have to decide who they want to support,” Fadnavis said.
Sunetra Pawar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done tremendous work and the world has taken note of it.
“Be it infrastructure, building of roads, Chandrayaan, Modiji has been instrumental in doing tremendous work and that is why he is in the minds of the people,” she said.
Praful Patel and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale also attended the rally.
Earlier in the day, Sunetra Pawar and Ajit Pawar visited the Dagadusheth Halwai Ganpati temple here and performed ‘aarti’.
Meanwhile, actor-turned-politician Amol Kolhe, the sitting MP and NCP (SP) candidate from Shirur Lok Sabha seat in Pune district, filed his nomination before the returning officer here.
PTI