Wednesday, Jun 26, 2024 | Last Update : 09:40 AM IST
Sunetra Pawar elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed
Sunetra Pawar lost from the Baramati constituency, where her sister-in-law Supriya Sule registered her fourth consecutive win
Mumbai: Days after her big defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar, the wife of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, was on Thursday elected to Rajya Sabha.
Sunetra filed her nomination as the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate after the party finalised her name in a meeting held on Wednesday evening. She was elected unopposed, being the only candidate in the fray.
According to party sources, the decision to field Sunetra Pawar is seen as a strategic move by the NCP to strengthen its position in the Baramati region. It will free Ajit Pawar to campaign for the upcoming state assembly elections extensively while his wife can focus on Baramati.
In the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar lost from the Baramati constituency in Pune district, where her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, the daughter of NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, registered her fourth consecutive win.
The result was a huge jolt for Ajit Pawar, who represents Baramati assembly seat, as Sule secured a lead of over 47,000 votes over Sunetra Pawar in the Baramati segment during the Lok Sabha polls.
Sunetra was chosen over other aspirants, including Parth Pawar, the elder son of the deputy chief minister, senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal, former MP Anand Paranjape and senior MLA Baba Siddique.
Incidentally, barring leaders from the NCP, no politician from the Ajit Pawar-led party’s allies in the ruling Mahayuti – the BJP and the Shiv Sena – was present when Sunetra Pawar filed her nomination at the Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai.
Bhujbal said though he was keen on contesting the Rajya Sabha polls, he was not upset with Sunetra Pawar's nomination, which he described as a ‘collective decision’ of the party.
“The decision to field Sunetra Pawar was taken by the party’s core group. It was not decided by him (Ajit Pawar) alone. It was a collective decision,” Bhujbal said.
The elections have been necessitated after Praful Patel resigned as Rajya Sabha member and preferred to get elected again during the biennial elections in February to prevent any disqualification proceedings by the NCP (SP).
