Supriya Sule Vows Not to Contest Against Pawar Family Members
Baramati MP signals shift in political strategy following previous intra-family electoral battles
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NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule announced she will no longer contest elections against any member of the Pawar family, a decision welcomed by her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar following past electoral rivalries in Baramati.
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PUNE: NCP (SP) working president and Baramati MP Supriya Sule on Thursday announced that she will never again contest election against any member of the Pawar family.
Supriya's sister-in-law and NCP chief Sunetra Pawar welcomed her statement and said there should not be one more Pawar versus Pawar contest on any poll turf. The Pawar family members have fought elections against each other twice in Baramati ever since the NCP's split in 2023.
The first one was in 2024 when Supriya and Sunetra contested to represent Baramati in the Lok Sabha. Supriya won the election. A few months after the Lok Sabha polls, then NCP chief Ajit Pawar defeated his nephew, Yugendra, in the assembly elections.
Supriya, while interacting with the media in Mumbai on Thursday, said there would not be any such electoral contest in future. "I am making it clear that I will not contest against any Pawar family member. If somebody from the family decides to contest (Baramati Lok Sabha seat), I will opt for another constituency," she said.
On her battle against Sunetra in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Supriya said, "There was some background to that election, which I do not wish to discuss now. That time too I did not want to contest against my family member. In future also, I will maintain the same stand."
Sunetra welcomed Supriya's stand. "Ever since I joined active politics, I have tried to keep politics and family relations separate. I am happy with Supriya Tai's stand. The entire Pawar family is of the same opinion," the NCP chief told reporters in Nagpur.
Though talks about merger of both factions of NCP have taken a backseat after Ajit Pawar's death in a plane crash on Jan 28, the Pawar family members are seen frequently coming together. During the recent Baramati bypoll, Supriya not only announced that her party, NCP(SP), would not field any candidate against Sunetra, but also joined her sister-in-law on the last day of campaigning.
