Early trends indicate a blow to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s prestige with both his daughter Supriya Sule and his grand nephew Parth Pawar trailing in the crucial Baramati and Maval Lok Sabha constituencies.
Parth Pawar, the son of former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is trailing by more than 46,000 votes in the crucial Maval Lok Sabha constituency. He is up against Shrirang Barne, the sitting Shiv Sena MP of Maval.
Mr. Pawar’s daughter, two-time NCP MP Supriya Sule, too, is facing what seems to be a neck to neck race in Baramati against her opponent Kanchan Kool, the BJP-Sena’s candidate.
According to latest reports, Ms. Kool has secured a lead of 4,000-odd votes over Ms. Sule. The Khadakwasla Assembly segment, which is held by the BJP, is said to have majorly contributed to Ms. Kool’s lead
The BJP has vocally expressed its determination to supplant the Pawar clan from Baramati, the family’s hitherto impregnable bastion. It has pulled out all stops to take Baramati by storm.
In the 2014 general election, Ms. Sule had a scare after Rashtriya Samaj Paksha leader Mahadev Jankar (now an NDA ally) offered her a stiff fight. Ms. Sule managed to win by a slender margin of around 70,000 votes
Baramati, Maval, Shirur and Pune are the four vital constituencies in Pune district which are expected to witness keenly contested fights.
Some consolation for the NCP has come in the Shirur seat, where popular TV actor Dr. Amol Kolhe – the NCP-Congress candidate – has secured a massive lead of more than 40,000 votes over his rival, sitting MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil.
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