Do you want vocal candidate or silent one for Lok Sabha: Supriya Sule amid Sunetra Pawar's poll debut buzz

Mumbai: NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule on Monday sought a popular mandate for a candidate like herself who would raise issues instead of someone who would sit quietly waiting for her husband to speak, a jibe coming amid buzz that her cousin Ajit Pawar is pushing for his wife's candidature.

While there is no official word yet on who would contest the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district on the NCP ticket, speculation is rife that Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar will make her political debut from the Pawar stronghold.

"I seek your votes to send me to Parliament to discuss your issues. You cannot elect a person who would sit quietly while her husband goes to Parliament and speaks. Do you ever want such a person (as a candidate)?" Sule said while addressing a rally in Baramati.

If my husband visits Parliament, he cannot even enter the Lower House. He will have to sit in the canteen there waiting for me, she added.

This is the first time in recent weeks that Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar, launched a veiled attack on her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, suggesting that she lacks experience.

Sule, so far, has been evading a direct reply to questions related to Sunetra Pawar's candidature, saying everyone has the right to contest elections and that she would seek votes based on her work.

Sule had won three consecutive elections from Baramati, a pocketborough of the Pawars, but the 2024 contest will be different in view of the shifting alliances and altered political landscape.

Ajit Pawar, nephew of Sharad Pawar, joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP government last July with some MLAs and took oath as Deputy Chief Minister.

Recently, the Election Commission ruled in his favour, recognising the faction led by him as the real Nationalist Congress Party and allowing it to claim the party's clock symbol.

The EC okayed the Nationalist Congress Party- Sharadchandra Pawar as the name of the Sharad Pawar-led faction. The NCP (SP) was allotted "a man blowing a traditional trumpet" as its symbol. Ajit Pawar is the MLA from the Baramati assembly segment.

His son Parth Pawar had unsuccessfully contested the Maval Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district.