MUMBAI, Sep 9: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut today dismissed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s recent expressions of regret over his political decisions, predicting that Pawar will face defeat in the upcoming assembly elections from his stronghold of Baramati.
Raut’s comments came in response to Ajit Pawar’s recent admission that fielding his wife, Sunetra, against his cousin Supriya Sule in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was a mistake. Ajit Pawar had also stated that it might be beneficial for Baramati to elect a new MLA to assess his own development work in comparison.
Ajit Pawar, who has represented Baramati in the Maharashtra Assembly since 1991, won the 2019 election with a substantial margin of 1.65 lakh votes against BJP’s Gopichand Padalkar. The upcoming state assembly elections are scheduled for next month.
Raut criticized Ajit Pawar for his role in the NCP split and his alignment with the Shiv Sena-BJP government, accusing him of betraying his uncle, NCP founder Sharad Pawar. “There is no point in repenting about what he did to his uncle Sharad Pawar and his party,” Raut said. “Ajit Pawar engineered a split in the NCP and within the Pawar family. He even took away his uncle’s party and symbol. He backstabbed his uncle, who was like a father figure to him.”
In addition, Raut expressed concerns about Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Mumbai, alleging that BJP leaders are undermining Mumbai’s political and financial standing. He accused the BJP of attempting to relocate key organizations and institutions from Mumbai to Gujarat, citing the shift of the International Financial Services Centre as an example. “We are against such policies of these BJP leaders,” Raut asserted.
