Ajit Pawar’s ‘remorse’ won’t help him win assembly poll from Baramati: Sanjay Raut

PTI, Sep 9, 2024, 12:24 PM IST

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday said there is no point in Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar “repenting” some of his political actions and claimed the NCP leader would lose the upcoming assembly poll from his home turf Baramati.

Raut’s remarks came after Ajit Pawar recently admitted publicly that he had made a mistake by fielding his wife Sunetra against his cousin and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule, the daughter of his uncle Sharad Pawar, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and said politics should not enter the home.

Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state last year along with some other NCP leaders, leading to a split in the party founded by Sharad Pawar.

On Sunday, Ajit Pawar said he was satisfied with the development work he had carried out as a legislator, adding that people of Baramati for once must get an MLA other than him so they could make comparisons.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief has been MLA from Baramati since 1991. In the 2019 assembly polls, he won against BJP’s Gopichand Padalkar with a record margin of 1.65 lakh votes.

The state assembly elections are due next month.

Asked about the deputy CM’s comments, Raut told reporters here, “There is no point in repenting about what he did to his uncle Sharad Pawar and his party. Ajit Pawar will definitely lose the Baramati assembly election.” “Ajit Pawar engineered a split in the NCP and within the Pawar family. He even took away his (Sharad Pawar’s) party and symbol. He backstabbed his uncle, who used to be a father-like figure for him,” the Rajya Sabha member claimed.

Raut also hit out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on a visit to Mumbai.

“We do fear that these BJP leaders will continue to undermine Mumbai politically as well as financially. There has been a constant attempt to shift good things, such as organisations and institutions, from Mumbai to Gujarat. The International Financial Services Centre, which was supposed to be in Mumbai, has been shifted to Gujarat,” he said.

“We are against such policies of these BJP leaders,” the Sena (UBT) leader said.