Lok Sabha elections 2024: Battle for Baramati

The political battle in this Lok Sabha constituency has been intensifying with every passing day with every development pointing to a close fight between Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar the respective candidates of the Sharadchandra Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions of the Nationalist Congress Party NCP Issues such as water shortage inflation as well as Maratha and Dhangar reservations are of grave concern for votersSunetra Pawar of the NCP Ajit Pawar poses for a selfie with residents of Khadakwasla on Thursday PicsAnurag AhireThe Baramati parliamentary seat encompasses six Assembly seats Baramati Indapur Khadakwasala Daund Bhor and Purandar The Ajit Pawar faction represents the first two seats in Vidhan Sabha the sitting MLAs being Ajit Pawar himself and Dattatray Bharne a close confidant of his Congress legislators Sangram Thopate and Sanjay Jagtap represent Bhor and Purandar respectivelySympathy factorWhile roaming around the Lok Sabha constituency and interacting with voters midday observed that Sule enjoys a fair amount of support from citizens and because of the split in NCP the sympathy factor for octogenarian leader Sharad Pawar could benefit his daughter Ajit and his wife Sunetra have been tirelessly roaming the constituency to garner support midday observed that many senior citizens who have been staunch supporters of Sharad Pawar are upset with Ajit for engineering the NCP splitDiffering opinionsmidday followed Sunetra on her campaign trail in Khadakwasala on Thursday and witnessed that many youngsters were involved Sunetra made it a point to meet as many people as possible even visiting the families of sarpanches and other prominent personalities Akshay Bhagwat a supporter of Ajitrsquos faction said ldquoThis time the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency will elect Sunetra Vahini because they are aware of the social work she has been doing for so many yearsNCP SP candidate from Baramati Supriya Sule interacts with voters at Khadakwasla on WednesdayThe added advantage for Sunetra Vahini is that she has the backing of Ajit Dada who has done a lot of developmentrelated work in the area The youngers are crazy for Ajit Dada and all six Assembly segments in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency has a high number of young votersA local villager requesting not to be named said ldquoAjit Dada could have opted to establish his own political party instead of causing a rift within the NCP a party built with the dedication and efforts of Sharad Pawar Saheb The people are angry with Ajit Dada because he has caused distress to Pawar Saheb in his old age and so people will vote for Supriya TairdquoAn Ajit supporter said ldquoIt cannot be denied that there are many senior citizens or people above 50 who have a soft spot for Sharad Pawar Saheb but a huge chunk of young voters is with Ajit Dada so if we look at the current scenario the fight between Sunetra Vahini and Supriya Tai is neck and neckrdquoMeeting old rivalsInterestingly Sharad Pawar has also been meeting political archrivals to ease the way for Sule The veteran leader recently visited Anantrao Thopatersquos house in Bhor and then had a rally with the MVA group in the Assembly segment where Thopatersquos son Sangram the Congress MLA was also present Locals said Sangram is at loggerheads with Ajit and this might help Sule Sunetra had also met Anantrao Thopate It is also said that Sharad Pawar had visited the home of former MP the late Sambhajirao Kakade and interacted with his familyBurning issuesThe constituency has a sizable number of Maratha and Dhangar voters and the reservation issue is of importance here While interacting with locals midday found that citizens were concerned about the rate of inflation and water shortage People were also unhappy with the fact that Opposition parties were not highlighting these issues effectivelySunetra Pawar of the NCP Ajit Pawar on the campaign trail in the same area on ThursdayAbout KhadakwaslaThe Baramati Lok Sabha constituency has a significant number of rural voters but one should not forget that its Khadakwasla Assembly segment has more than five lakh voters Its sitting MLA Bhimrao anna Dhondiba Tapkir is from the BJP and these votes may prove crucialBaramati backgroundSupriya Sule the sitting MP from Baramati secured 686714 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll and won by 155774 The runnerup Kanchan Rahul Kul who contested on a BJP ticket secured 530940 votes Navnath Padalkar of the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi secured 44134 votes In the 2014 race Sule secured 521562 votes winning by a lead of 69719 Rashtriya Samaj Paksha chief Mahadev Jankar the runnierup bagged 451843 votes while the tally of Suresh Khopade of the Aam Admi Party was 26396Did you knowIn 1991 much before the NCP was formed Ajit Pawar contested from Baramati on a Congress ticket and secured 437293 votes winning by a margin of 336263 BJP candidate Pratibha Lokhande the runnerup secured 101030 votes while Bhikaram Tapkir of the Janata Dal stood third with 30783 votes2100000Approximate no of voters in Baramati LS constituency686714Votes polled by Supriya Sule in 2019 Lok Sabha poll