Supriya Sule or Ajit Pawar? Sharad Pawar taking the backseat in Lok Sabha election raises question over NCP heir

“It could be a ‘Pawar-play’,” said Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan on Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar’s decision not to contest the Lok Sabha election this time. The 78-year-old announced his decision on Tuesday after discussing the matter with his family. “After holding talks with my family, we were of the opinion that members of the next generation should be given a chance. There is demand from various party leaders and workers for Parth Pawar’s candidature from Maval,” he said, referring to his grand nephew and son of NCP leader Ajit Pawar. His decision is a complete 180 from what he had announced a month ago. An incumbent Rajya Sabha MP, Sharad had said that his party workers had been insisting that he  contest the Lok Sabha election from the Madha seat, currently represented by NCP leader Vijaysinh Mohite Patil. [caption id=“attachment_6243651” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule. PTI and AFP[/caption] While the BJP may claim that Sharad’s “ fear of losing” was at the centre of his decision, NCP MP Vandana Chavan — believed to be close to the Pawar family — dismissed the thought, saying that he had told her “younger party colleagues should be given an opportunity” in the election now. “As party workers and (NCP ally) Shetakari Kamgar Paksha are appealing that Parth be given the ticket from the Maval constituency, I have myself decided not to contest the elections from Madha,” the former defence minister said at a press conference in Pune. Now arises the question of who will lead the NCP, with Sharad’s daughter Supriya Sule and nephew Ajit Pawar the most obvious options. Sule represents the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, and Ajit the Baramati Assembly seat. Sule has won the Baramati parliamentary seat twice already and is expected to fight the polls from there again, but Sharad had ruled out Ajit contesting the parliamentary polls, even though the former deputy chief minister had announced that he was ready to contest from Shirur. In the NCP, the tense undercurrent of a feud in the Pawar family has never been as evident as in other parties — take the Samajwadi Party, for example — but that doesn’t rule out its existence. There was speculation that Ajit was highly insecure about his place in the party after Sule’s entry into politics in 2006. Till then, he was the undisputed heir to the NCP throne, a claim that was brought under doubt after the NCP’s chief’s own daughter joined the party. For years, even before Sule’s entry into politics, brash Ajit had been handling the NCP’s organisation and was seen as the one to approach for election management. Sule, on the other hand, is seen as the more refined member of the family, with a flair for communicating well with both urban and rural masses. In 2012, an NCP leader had said “there has always been a division of turf. Supriya Sule at the Centre and Ajit Pawar at the state level”. A Congress leader said that in June that year, when Sharad launched the Rashtrawadi Yuvati Congress — the NCP’s women’s wing to be headed by Sule — he spoke about female leaders such as Mayawati, which “led to speculation that he was promoting Supriya as Ajit’s alternative”. Sule seemed to have put to rest the Ajit versus Sule debate in April 2018 with her statement, “Maharashtra will go ahead under the leadership of Ajit dada.” Sule had made the remarks in the backdrop of a number of NCP leaders vying for the chief minister’s post. In fact, she had firmly backed her cousin and his bid for the post and clearly said she was happy being an MP and not interested in state politics. Years ago, in 2012, Ajit himself had said there was “no friction” as the “Pawar vs Pawar” hysteria was “created by the media”, and that his uncle, the NCP chief, would make the final decision. If we look at Sharad taking the back seat in the Lok Sabha election, it could be assumed that this decision on who will be the face of the NCP could come sooner than later.