NCP, BJP bet on PM Modi’s rally to checkmate Sharad Pawar in Baramati

Mumbai, April 10 (IANS) Ajit Pawar’s led NCP along with BJP have stepped up efforts to organise the MahaYuti’s public rally to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Khadakwasla which is a crucial assembly segment of the Baramati constituency. 

Both parties expect the proposed rally to be held in April end or early May which will not only keep the Baramati seat in mind but also the Pune, Shirur and Maval seats where BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena have fielded their nominees respectively. 

Baramati is a high-profile constituency where sitting MP Supriya Sule, who is the daughter of Sharad Pawar, the NCP SP nominee is pitted against Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar.

The polling in Baramati is slated for May 7 while in Maval, Pune and Shirur on May 13.

A senior NCP leader said that Khadakwasla is being zeroed in on being the BJP stronghold with the sitting legislator. 

He said that NCP and BJP together hope to woo the voters from urban areas apart from the rural and semi-urban areas in the Pune district. 

“NCP Chief Ajit Pawar has made it clear that the party has decided to join the MahaYuti government on the development issue and wants PM Modi to become a prime minister for the third time to further expedite the development process,” the NCP leader said. 

He said that a rally by PM Modi would help lure the fence sitters and increase the vote share of MahaYuti nominees in Baramati, Pune, Shirur and Maval.

State Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, who is BJP’s cluster head for Baramati, Pune, Shirur and Maval seats, said that the party has sent a request to PM Modi’s office seeking his time for a public rally though he has yet to convey his confirmation.

On the other hand, NCP Pune District Chief Pradip Garatkar pointed out that the party has conveyed to allies that the PM’s public rally can be held in Khadakwasla. 

“We are hopeful about the PM's timing for the same,” he said.

MahaYuti’s move to organise the PM’s rally is important especially when Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are approaching the voters raising the BJP’s divisive politics and accusing it of engineering a split in NCP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. 

A section of MahaYuti hopes that Modi can counter these allegations by projecting the BJP-led NDA government’s Viksit Bharat plank apart from playing up a slew of initiatives taken for the benefit of farmers, OBCs, women, youth and tribals.

A BJP leader from the Pune district said that although the NCP-led by Ajit Pawar is contesting, the BJP has swung into action with full force and is contesting the Baramati election with a resolve to win and defeat Sharad Pawar.