Three-term Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule, alongside her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, submitted their candidature for the Baramati Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra's Pune district on the tickets of NCP (SP) and NCP, respectively.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is Sunetra Pawar's husband, also submitted a separate set of nomination papers for the seat. An NCP official described this move as a precautionary measure in case any issues arise with Sunetra Pawar's nomination.
Voting in Baramati, known as the stronghold of the Pawar family, is scheduled for May 7.
During the nomination filing process, Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Vishwajeet Kadam accompanied Supriya Sule, the current MP from Baramati and daughter of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar. Later in the day, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, and NCP leader Praful Patel were present as Sunetra Pawar, making her electoral debut, filed her nomination.
Addressing a rally after Sule submitted her nomination, Sharad Pawar criticised the BJP government, accusing it of failing to address issues such as inflation, unemployment, agrarian distress, and crimes 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 outlined.
The price of petrol was Rs 71 per litre when Narendra Modi took office as prime minister in 2014, and he had pledged to lower 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. The employment rate has declined," the former Union minister marked. "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.
A rally was also held by the ruling 'Mahayuti' constituents, the BJP, the NCP led by Ajit Pawar, and the Shiv Sena under CM Shinde, before Sunetra Pawar filed her nomination.
Speaking at the rally, Shinde remarked that although Modi had previously stated he entered politics by biting Sharad Pawar's finger, the PM was able to transform the country and lead it toward progress after he released the finger.
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"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.
Sharad Pawar's "outsider" remark about Sunetra Pawar prompted the Chief Minister to criticise him, saying those who draw distinctions between a daughter and a daughter-in-law are living in their world and will never succeed.
Ajit Pawar joined the Mahayuti because he felt he was being treated unfairly (in the united NCP), Shinde continued. He also made fun of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by stating that while the ISRO had successfully launched Chandrayaan, the opposition party's attempts to introduce the Wayanad MP had been unsuccessful.
Fadnavis stated that a new history would be created in Baramati as the "daughter-in-law of Baramati" would 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.
According to Sunetra Pawar, PM Narendra Modi has accomplished amazing things, and people around the world have noticed. "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.