"Some people close to me have misunderstood me." In the 2019 elections, Parth Pawar contested the Lok Sabha elections from Maval and the discussion about the Pawar family dispute started.
Parth's contesting the election was opposed and there were discussions about differences in the Pawar family. In the same background, Sunetra Pawar had made this statement in an interview given to 'Pune Mirror' during the subsequent assembly elections.
In this interview, Sunetra Pawar had said, “Every time I campaign for the assembly, Supriya Sule and my children come together, Ajit Pawar comes to campaign. The people of Baramati need not be told what they have done. Baramati has reached here today because of Pawar's. The current situation (2019) is different. Because Pawar is being targeted, cases have been filed. None of the allegations are substantiated. People will answer this.
I have never been at the center of any controversy. If I wanted something, I could have asked for it. If my children wanted to enter politics, I would have prepared them for it. But personally I am not very interested in politics."
Today, after five years, the same Sunetra Pawar is at the center of politics. She will be contesting the election against Supriya Sule with whom she was campaigning. And the constituency is of course Pawar's Baramati.
Father-in-law's political legacy
Sunetra Pawar is from Dharashiv district. She is the sister of senior NCP leader Padmasinh Patil.
Sunetra Pawar's childhood was spent in Dharashiv (Osmanabad).
Sunetra Pawar says that since her father was a freedom fighter, her interest in politics and social causes came from there. She mentions that because of people's visiting at home all the time, that's what made us happen.
Sunetra and Ajit Pawar got married due to her father's and Sharad Pawar's political fame. Sunetra got married in 1980 and came to Baramati. Even Ajit Pawar had not entered politics then. Ajit Pawar's politics started and Sunetra Pawar was busy at home for the first few years.
Sunetra Pawar's social work started from Katewadi near Baramati. Sunetra Pawar, who had visited Mahabaleshwar when Ajit Pawar was the guardian minister of Satara, on his way back, showed a village where Sant Gadgebaba Gram Swachhta Abhiyan was going on. The Katewadi project was started with inspiration from that.
Talking about this, Sunetra Pawar says, "I called a meeting of people from all parties. When I called a meeting, everyone thought what would happen. But when I expressed my thoughts, everyone's reactions were different. People thought, do we want to clean the village like the wives of big houses hold an exhibition? But I repeatedly It kept coming and after that people also realized the seriousness of it.
At that time, 80 percent of the people in Katewati did not even have toilets. From that and through Nirmal Gram and then Gram Swachhta Abhiyan, Sunetra Pawar's social work started."
After this she led the Nirmal Village Campaign in 86 villages of the state. Through this she implemented the 'Nirmal Gram Swayam Sahayada' movement and converted it as a model and eco village. Along with this, she also implemented 'Project Meghdoot' to make Baramati area tanker free.
A textile park was started in Baramati to provide employment to women in the area. Around 15 thousand women work in this textile park. Sunetra Pawar has been the chairman of this textile park since 2006. Along with this, she is also working as a trustee of Vidya Pratishthan, an educational institution. He has received many awards for her work.
Baramati's 'sister-in-law' and politics
Although Sunetra Pawar was active in Baramati through social work, she was directly associated with politics through election campaigning for Ajit Pawar
Ajit Pawar, who visits Baramati every week, pays attention to the development work, Sunetra Pawar mostly handles the public relations in the area. Due to this, she became known as 'Vahini' in Baramati area.
However, she was not directly active in politics earlier. But the Baramati campaign planning and tours for Ajit Pawar were mostly the same. He was responsible for village visits, meeting tours and meeting important people.
When Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar were campaigning across the state, the equation used to be that they would come to Baramati for the start and end of the campaign and the rest of the time the family would campaign.
Splits in parties and families
On the occasion of Parth Pawar's entry and contesting the 2019 election, the discussion started that there is a dispute in the Pawar family. It was discussed that Sunetra Pawar was insisting that Partha Pawar should contest the elections. At the same time Rohit Pawar, another grandson of Pawar and son of Rajendra Pawar also entered politics.
First, he contested as a Zilla Parishad member and then as an MLA from Karjat. At that time, it was claimed that there was an argument between Rohit Pawar's mother Sunanda Pawar and Parth Pawar's mother Sunetra Pawar. But she always rejected this claim.
Last year there was a split in the NCP. Ajit Pawar joined the BJP and took oath as Deputy Chief Minister, and from then on it became clear that the rift was not only within the party but also within the family.
Now in the election arena
The battle for the Lok Sabha elections started and Sunetra Pawar became active. It started with various meetings and events. After that it became clear that the election in Baramati would be Pawar vs Pawar. Sunetra Pawar is currently visiting different parts of Baramati Lok Sabha constituency every day. Sunetra Pawar has visited all those who are considered important for the constituency, be it Bhor or Daund.
A challenging election
For Sunetra Pawar, who entered the election arena for the first time, this election is definitely not easy. The challenger in front of them is Supriya Sule.
Supriya Sule, who has been an MP for the past fifteen years, has been praised for her work in Parliament. But she was also criticized for the lack of contact with people in the village. Following this thread, Sunetra Pawar's campaign has started. But on the other hand Sharad Pawar has started campaigning directly and started meetings. Ajit Pawar's meetings and gatherings for Sunetra Pawar and Sharad Pawar's meetings and gatherings for Supriya Sule are currently seen in Baramati.
However, in Baramati assembly constituency, most of the office bearers of NCP have gone with Ajit Pawar. Therefore, the voting in Baramati constituency is going to be decisive. Bhor Constituency Sangram Thopete is seen on the platform with Supriya Sule, while in Indapur Constituency Harshvardhan Patil has written a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressing his displeasure. Of course, Ajit Pawar and Harsh Vardhan Patil were never friends. But here Dattatraya Bharan is supporting Ajit Pawar.
In Purandar, Vijay Shivtare challenged both Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar. As soon as Sunetra Pawar's candidature was announced, he withdrew and said that he will campaign for Sunetra Pawar. Sunetra Pawar is likely to get some relief in Daund through office bearers and BJP.
But the biggest challenge in front of Sunetra Pawar is the family that is standing against it. On the one hand, Ajit Pawar is an emotional challenger, while on the other hand, Ajit Pawar's brother Srinivas Pawar, who speaks against it, is currently seen in Baramati Constituency.
From the Pawar family, Ajit Pawar, Sunetra Pawar, Jay Pawar and Parth Pawar are campaigning together. On the other side, the entire Pawar family is seen together. In the campaign of Sunetra Pawar, activists are bringing the issue that Sharad Pawar does not give others a chance even at this stage of his age, while the issue that time has brought Sharad Pawar at the age of 80 is being used in the campaign of Supriya Sule.
That's why Sunetra Pawar is making an emotional appeal to the voters saying, "Every person in Baramati is a member of our people's family. So wherever you go, you give me the same love. This love is very big for me."
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