‘There was no reason to turn my own cousin against me’: Ajit Pawar on Yugendra | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar criticized the NCP’s (SP) choice to field Yugendra Pawar, his cousin. Baramati Constituency in the recent Assembly elections in Maharashtra.
The veteran politician emerged victorious in his Baramati constituency, defeating Yugendra by a margin of over one lakh votes. This marked a major triumph for the 65-year-old against his uncle Sharad Pawar in the traditional seat of their family.
Speaking to reporters, Ajit said, “Yugendra is a businessman, he had no connections with politics. There was no reason to field my own cousin against me in the elections.”
“I made a mistake in the Lok Sabha elections, but if you have to convey a message, will you turn someone from your own family against me?” he added.
Ajit acknowledged his earlier decision to field his wife Sunetra Pawar against cousin Supriya Sule in the Lok Sabha elections as a mistake, saying domestic affairs should be kept separate from political matters.
In July last year, a major political shift took place when Ajit Pawar, along with several MLAs, joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government, causing divisions in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), originally led by Sharad Pawar.
After the NCP split in 2023, Ajit Pawar successfully obtained the party name and symbol from the Election Commission of India. This development forced the Sharad Pawar faction to adopt NCP(SP) as their new name and ‘Man Blowing Turha’ as their symbol.
In the Maharashtra assembly elections, the NCP led by Ajit Pawar won 41 seats while the NCP (SP) led by his uncle put up a dismal show by securing only ten seats.