Maharashtra’s Baramati will witness an interesting battle between two Pawar women in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections – sitting MP and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule is poised to take on her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, who is Ajit Pawar’s wife. It will also be a major contest between the two NCP factions after the split in the party.
While Supriya is a seasoned politician, Sunetra will be contesting an election for the first time. But, that does not mean she does not know her way around. She has been working hard, behind the scenes, even as she has always campaigned for Supriya during the polls.
“In the last election, I came to you and asked for your vote for another candidate. But, this time I have come for myself…” Sunetra said as she began her election campaign from Pandare, a small village in the Baramati district. She prefers door-to-door campaigning instead of big rallies and meets people in person. In areas where the population is larger than 400 to 500, she holds corner meetings either in community halls or local temples.
Whether it is the Vidya Pratishthan or the Hi-tech Textile Park Ltd, Sunetra has worked extensively in Baramati. This time, she wants to focus on the smaller villages and towns in the district that have been left behind on the road to development.
In every village, people who come to meet Sunetra call her ‘vahini’ (sister-in-law). They try to bring her attention to issues their village is facing. “Everyone knows that Baramati is a model of development. The way Baramati has developed, I want to bring similar development to other parts of the constituency,” she said.
Asked about her priority if she becomes the MP, Sunetra said: “The youth of Baramati go to Pune and Mumbai for work, especially those who work in IT firms. I want to start special trains to Mumbai from Baramati. Increasing rail connectivity and making it better for the youth will be my priority.”
The Pawar family has always been criticised for developing only Baramati city and neglecting the other talukas or other five assembly segments. The development seen in Baramati has not taken place outside of it.
“I agree that other talukas of Baramati are less developed compared to Baramati city. I want to bring water schemes of the central government to small villages of Baramati. The state government is doing great work, but I want to bring all the central schemes to the last person in the Baramati constituency and develop these villages. Once these villages regularly get water, they will also get connected to the mainstream and progress,” said Sunetra.
Her husband Ajit Pawar is an inspiration. Sunetra said people come to her with the same hope and expectations. “Ajit Pawar is an inspiration for all of us. He has been and is still working hard for the people of Baramati. I will do all the hard work to match his speed and reach the benchmark set by him,” she said.
Sunetra has chosen to work for the people of Baramati from behind the scenes, through women’s self-help groups, environmental NGOs and educational institutions. Some have, however, criticised her saying she has little exposure to politics.
“Many people don’t know that I come from a family that is in politics and social work. Later, I got married into a political family as well. So, I have learned all the lessons of politics from childhood itself. I have been exposed to politics since childhood; so, this is not new for me and I am not at all new in politics,” she said.
There is no doubt that Baramati has become a prestige issue for the divided Pawar family. Some say Baramati means Pawar saheb, while others say it means Ajit dada. But, Sunetra is of the opinion that all have contributed to its development.
“All have contributed to the development of Baramati, and my aim is to reach out to the last person, help them, and work for them,” she said.
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