Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday expressed regret over fielding his wife, Sunetra Pawar, against his cousin Supriya Sule in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls in Baramati, calling it a mistake.
"I love all my sisters. Politics should not enter the home. I made a mistake in fielding Sunetra against my sister. This shouldn’t have happened. But the parliamentary board (of NCP) made a decision. Now I feel it was wrong," the NCP chief said.
Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar reacted to Ajit Pawar's remark on Wednesday, stating that he was certain the "decision to field kaki (Sunetra Pawar) against tai (Supriya Sule) could not have been dada's (Ajit Pawar) decision but was due to pressure from Gujarat leaders in Delhi." He also added that similar pressure is being exerted to field a candidate against him in his Karjat-Jamkhed constituency.
"It was certain that the decision to field Sunetra kaki against Supriya tai could not have been dada's. You admitted in a news channel interview that it was a mistake, but your allies are campaigning to the contrary, claiming it was dada's decision. Although you call it a 'mistake,' it was actually the pressure from the Gujarat leaders sitting in Delhi. Now, there is discussion in the Legislative Assembly polls that similar pressure is on them regarding my constituency," Rohit Pawar said on X (formerly Twitter).
"Although it is a personal issue to succumb to pressure, you went with the BJP, leaving behind self-respect, ideology, and (Sharad Pawar) saheb. A capable leader became the scapegoat. As a party worker and a nephew, this will always be a source of sadness. But the artiste who is orchestrating these conspiracies and destroying Maharashtra will definitely be removed from the political platform of the state one day with the help of the self-respecting people of Maharashtra," he added.
