MUMBAI: Just a day after his grandfather NCP Chief Sharad Pawar gave green signal, Parth Pawar on Wednesday set out on an extensive tour of the Maval Lok Sabha Constituency from where he is likely to be fielded.
Meanwhile, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Parth’s father Ajit Pawar who addressed a party workers’ meet at Panvel, a prominent town in Maval constituency, however, didn’t mention of Parth’s candidature and said that he was there just to address the party cadre.
Parth Pawar started off his day by seeking blessings at the Ekvira temple at Karla near Lonavala, a hill station on Mumbai-Pune highway, addressed party cadres at Pimpri-Chinchwad and also attended a meeting of booth level leaders which was addressed by Sharad Pawar by video conference.
The Pawar scion mingled with party cadres with ease and showed his political maturity by underplaying his cousin Rohit’s facebook post appealing the senior Pawar to review his decision and contest the polls.
“I completely agree with what elder brother Rohit has said. I’m with him on this,” Parth said during a brief interaction with the media.
While it is being said that Pawar retracted from his decision to fulfil the wish of his grandson, the other grandson’s social media post was being seen as a rift within the family getting public. However, Parth’s response avoided the embarrassment to the family.
The constituency, which once saw complete NCP dominance, is now dominated by the BJP. The party controls both the municipal corporations Pimpri-Chinchwad and Panvel in the constituency and has four out of six of the sitting MLAs. The Lok Sabha seat is held by Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Barne, who is popular amongst the electorate.
Aware of these challenges, Ajit Pawar on Wednesday, interacted with the cadre of Peasants and Workers’ Party (PWP) apart from his own party men at Panvel.
The PWP is part of the grand alliance under the leadership of the Congress and was the most dominant political force in the Panvel region for a long time before 2014 when the Thakur family that led the part in the region joined BJP.
“I came here today to work for the NCP candidate,” he said when asked whether he has come to the town to campaign for his son Parth. “From where to field Parth is state president Jayant Patil’s discretion,” Ajit Pawar said.