The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is likely to nominate either his wife, Sunetra Pawar, or their son, Parth Pawar, for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
The Rajya Sabha by-election was necessitated after NCP Working President Praful Patel resigned, following his re-election to the Upper House of Parliament in February.
News agency IANS reported, quoting an NCP minister, “Ajit Pawar is expected to brief the ministers and legislators about Sunetra Pawar’s nomination and thereafter her name will be finalised."
"Sunetra Pawar’s nomination is a calculated move to checkmate NCP(SP) Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule in the run-up to the state Assembly elections in September-October this year," the minister added.
Both Sunetra and her son Parth Pawar have tasted defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 and 2019, respectively.
Sunetra contested the Baramati Lok Sabha seat in this year's general elections but lost to NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule, the daughter of Sharad Pawar. Sule secured 732,312 votes, while Sunetra received 573,979 votes.
In 2019, Parth had unsuccessfully contested the general elections for the Maval Lok Sabha constituency, losing to then-undivided Shiv Sena candidate Shrirang Barne.
After he threw his hat in the ring for the RS seat, Ajit's son Parth Pawar met with NCP Working President Praful Patel and State President Sunil Tatkare on Tuesday night and held a 45-minute meeting at the party's office in Nariman Point, reported the Hindustan Times.
This is not the first time Parth has thrown his hat in the ring. During the Rajya Sabha elections in February, he had pushed for the opportunity, but the party leadership opposed his candidacy as Sunetra was slated to run for the Baramati seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Parth Pawar faced a significant defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Shiv Sena's Shrirang Barne in the Maval constituency.
The final day for Rajya Sabha nominations is tomorrow, intensifying the speculation around the Pawar family's political strategy.