In Baramati's intense battle between Saheb and Dada, people are the king

Ajit Pawar's development pitch encounters Sharad Pawar's emotional hold over voters as this constituency of glitzy shops and spotless roads turns into a do-or-die battlefield for the younger Pawar amid an intense canvassing never seen before by most voters. And people are not complaining.

Dada, as the deputy chief minister is often addressed, carries a certain air and would not even bother spending much time in campaigns as his win was a forgone outcome, Sandeep Jagtap (32), a farmer, said.

"He is now smiling, bowing and folding his hands seeking our votes," he adds with a laugh.

His friend Amol Kulange notes that the election has also seen an unlikely turnout of the members of the Pawar clan who are mostly backing Yugendra Pawar, the grand nephew of Sharad Pawar and fielded by him as his NCP(SP) candidate to take on the deputy chief minister.

 

Sharad Pawar's wife Pratibha Pawar, not much seen in previous polls, has hit the campaign trail and so have some other members of the family, Kulange says.

The respect for the four-time former chief minister, often referred to as Saheb, in his stronghold of western Maharashtra is palpable in much of the region. But his estranged nephew also appears to enjoy a stature of his own in Baramati, a constituency represented by the senior Pawar for six terms before he passed the baton to Ajit Pawar in 1991.

Ajit Pawar is now seeking his eighth straight term and the first after splitting from his uncle in 2023 along with 40 of then undivided party's 53 MLAs. His faction was recognised as the real Nationalist Congress Party.

In the town, Srikrishna Borkar, a teacher, says Ajit Pawar is behind its development, including the V P College whose infrastructure, he added, is as good as one can find anywhere.

However, the picture takes on another shade as the conversation is joined by older generations.

A section of people criticises Ajit Pawar for "capturing" his uncle's party to join hands with the ruling BJP.

Mohan Akhade, a farmer in his 60s, claims that the core supporters of the NCP will never desert 'Saheb'. He asserts that it was Sharad Pawar who nursed Baramati as a model of development before picking his nephew for the job.

It is this sentimental connection with the 83-year-old leader that ensured the defeat of Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar, now a Rajya Sabha member, against Supriya Sule in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

In this Assembly poll, Yugendra Pawar may be the candidate of the NCP(SP) against the deputy chief minister, but nobody has any doubt that their choice is between Saheb and Dada.

There are also voters who say that they voted for Sule in the Lok Sabha polls for their fealty to Sharad Pawar when he faced one of his biggest political crises and they will now support Ajit Pawar as an acknowledgement of his work.

In this developed constituency of one of the more prosperous regions of Maharashtra, the state government's welfare pitch built around cash transfer schemes like 'Ladki Bahun' does not enjoy the same traction as in other places.

Instead of the ruling Mahayuti versus Maha Vikas Aghadi, the political discourse is overshadowed by the split in the Pawar family, a development seen by most as detrimental to Baramati's interests.

"Anyone who loses will lose interest in the constituency. It is in our interest that the family is united," Mehul Shinde says.

Everyone's eyes are now fixed on Sharad Pawar's expected public address in Baramati on November 18, the last day of campaigning before the polling on November 20.

In a show of uncharacteristic aggression, he has dubbed those who deserted him to join the government as "betrayers" and has urged voters to ensure their defeat.

On the other hand, Ajit Pawar has refrained from sharp criticism of the senior Pawar, realising that they will only stir the sympathy his uncle enjoys among people.

He has instead often highlighted that Sharad Pawar was part of the talks to join hands with the BJP before changing tack.

What Sharad Pawar says or does not say to voters of Baramati will be keenly watched but what is clear is that they will have the last word after going through decades of predictable elections.