lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 05, 2019 14:44 IST

Amid speculation that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) may field Parth Pawar, son of Ajit Pawar, from Maval Lok Sabha constituency, there are reports that the party is considering giving the candidature to Smita Patil, daughter of the late former home minister RR Patil. NCP’s chief spokesperson Nawab Malik, however, said the party is yet to take a decision.

Parth was seen as a potential candidate from the seat until NCP chief Sharad Pawar announced that only he and his daughter Supriya Sule will contest the Lok Sabha elections. Pawar has announced his candidature from the Madha Lok Sabha constituency. Supriya Sule is a sitting MP from Baramati.

Leaders close to Parth say he has still not given up and is trying to get candidature. His father, Ajit, is one of the party’s key leaders who handle the organisation.

Party leaders said the leadership has recently sought opinion from local leaders over Smita’s candidature from the constituency. “The party wants to field a known face from Maval and Smita can be considered if Parth is not getting the candidature.

Smita said that senior party leaders asked her to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Maval constituency. However, she refused to comment on her final decision.

She said, “I never thought about contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Maval. Senior party leaders of the NCP have approached me and asked me to contest the polls.

“However, I am not willing to comment on the matter because the party chief Sharad Pawar will take the final decision about the candidature from the Maval constituency.”

The 28-year-old law graduate got married in May last year and stays in Nigdi at Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune. Pimpri-Chinchwad is part of Maval constituency. RR Patil — who was mentored by Pawar — was the NCP’s most popular face, especially in rural Maharashtra. Patil died of oral cancer in 2015. He is remembered for proposing the ban on dance bars.

Smita, who is close to Supriya Sule, was appointed the state president of the Rashtrawadi Yuvati Congress (RYC) in October 2016. RYC is the women’s youth wing of the party, founded by Sule, which aims to mobilise young women, especially those from rural and upcoming towns in Maharashtra.

The constituency was formed after recommendations of the Delimitation Commission of India in 2008. It comprises six Assembly constituencies – Panvel, Uran and Karjat (Raigad district) and Maval, Pimpri and Chinchwad (Pune district).

The Shiv Sena has been successful in winning the Maval Lok Sabha seat in the last two general polls. In 2014, Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Barne won the Lok Sabha polls from Maval by a margin of at least 1.70 lakh votes with the NCP’s Rahul Narwekar in the third position.

(With inputs from HTC, Pune)