Sule manages to get lead in five of six assembly segments

Pune: One of the many highlights of the Baramati contest has been how Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) managed to outscore opponents in five of the six assembly segments and register a win against sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar by 158,333 votes.

The four-time Member of Parliament (MP) got lead even in Baramati town, represented in the state assembly by NCP chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. In 2014 and 2019, some of these assembly constituencies did not back Sule, although this time, voters here refused to back Sunetra.

In the Baramati assembly segment, Sule got a lead of 47,381 votes, while in Indapur, represented by NCP’s Dattatray Bharne in the assembly and supported by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders like Harshavardhan Patil, Sule managed to get a lead of 25,951 votes. Patil, a detractor of Ajit in local politics, had campaigned in favour of Sunetra after the intervention from BJP leader and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

In Daund, which is represented by BJP’s Rahul Kool, Sule managed to get a lead of 26,337 votes. Sule was ahead of Sunetra by 35,281 votes in Purandar. Local Shiv Sena leader Vijay Shivtare after much sulking had campaigned for Sunetra here. Sule got a lead of 43,805 votes against Sangram Thopte of Congress in Bhor. Khadakwasla with its urban electorate was the sole segment where Sunetra got a lead of 20,746 votes over Sule.

Though Ajit made it a prestigious election and vowed to win Baramati with the help of the BJP, his party had to face defeat.

Speaking on the verdict on Tuesday, Sule’s father and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said, “I was confident about the Baramati outcome since the beginning as I have been associated with people there for more than 60 years and knows the psyche of voters. I was confident that people will take the right decision.”

Ajit said, “No failure is final. We have strength and power to turn it around in future. Undeterred by failure, we all should devote ourselves to public service with renewed vigour, enthusiasm, and hope.”

Sunetra said, “I respect the mandate though it is unexpected. We would work hard and thankful for voters who have shown confidence in me. My political journey would not end here, it would be continue.”

NCP MLA Amol Mitkari blamed the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Sena for Baramati defeat, claiming that the alliance partners “did not work for Sunetra Pawar”.

BJP’s Baramati Lok Sabha co-ordinator Sandeep Khardekar said, “Mitkari’s statement is baseless. We worked hard for Baramati with Fadnavis taking various meetings.”