Ajit and Sharad Pawar rivalry spills into sugar mill poll; rival panels set for bittersweet fight

Pune: After Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar entered the election fray for the Malegaon Cooperative Sugar Mill in Baramati, the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) led by his estranged uncle Sharad Pawar, too, has jumped into the poll arena and floated a rival panel.

Addressing party workers and also members of the sugar mill from half a dozen villages in Baramati taluka, who form the electoral college (voters) for the poll, Sharad Pawar on Wednesday cautioned that allurements may be offered during the campaign, and urged them not to fall prey to them.

Election to the 21-member board of directors of the cooperative sugar mill in Baramati, the home turf of the Pawar family, is scheduled on June 22 and results will be announced on June 24.

Ajit Pawar, who is among 90 candidates in the fray, is contesting election to a cooperative sugar mill after more than four decades. He is a candidate of the Nilkantheshwar panel, which currently holds power in the sugar mill.

Candidates are contesting the poll under the banner of different panels and not on party tickets.

Besides the Nilkantheshwar panel and the Sahakar Bachav panel, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has entered the fray after floating the 'Baliraja Sahakar Bachav' panel, making the contest triangular. Sharad Pawar is not directly in the fray.

The Baliraja Sahakar Bachav panel has fielded 20 candidates and the Nilkantheshwar panel 21.

Speaking to reporters after addressing the voters, the senior Pawar said if people associated with the NCP (SP) had been taken along (by the Ajit Pawar-backed ruling panel), there would have been no need for his party to float a rival panel for the polls.

"Even today, we do not wish to take such a position. However, the party was compelled to take a stand due to circumstances that arose. Had an approach of taking everyone along been taken, this situation (floating rival panel) could have been avoided. But let bygones be bygones," said the former Union minister.

Before the 2023 split in the NCP, only one panel (Nilkantheshwar) represented the Pawar family on the board of the sugar mill.

Sharad Pawar asserted he does not see this disagreement as a long-term issue (between rival NCP groups).

"It is limited to this particular election, which involves only 19,000 voters -- members of the mill who are eligible to vote," he said.

Addressing party workers ahead of the poll, the senior Pawar insisted that while working for cooperatives in Maharashtra, he never brought politics into the key sector which has deep roots and wide network in the state.

"In the poll, some panels are contesting. In democracy, everyone has that right. I have no complaints about it. My only appeal is that after the poll, emphasis should be given to solving issues faced by people here," the veteran politician said.

The senior Pawar highlighted the pollution in the Nira river caused due to flow of wastes generated by sugar mills and said he was committed to address this issue as it is causing health hazards.

"During the poll, some people might misuse power and offer allurements, but ensure not to sell your votes, come what may," he maintained.