"Giving Funds, Press EVM Button, Otherwise...": Row Over Ajit Pawar Remark

The remark triggered a sharp response from the NCP faction led by party founder and veteran leader Sharad Pawar

Ajit Pawar, the chief of Nationalist Congress Party, has courted controversy with his remarks during a campaign to bolster support for his wife and party candidate from Baramati, Sunetra Pawar. Addressing a political meeting at Indapur in Baramati, he said, "We are giving you funds for development, so press the EVM button more. Otherwise, we will have to hold our hand back."

The remark triggered a sharp response from the NCP faction led by party founder and veteran leader Sharad Pawar. Mahesh Tapase, spokesperson for the faction, said Ajit Pawar's remark is a violation of the model code of conduct. The Sharad Pawar faction has complained to the Election Commission and sought action.

Baramati, a stronghold of Sharad Pawar's family for decades, has turned into a battleground on which factionalism in the NCP and family rivalries are set to play out this election. The Sharad Pawar faction has fielded three-time MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule. She is up against her cousin Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar. This comes eight months after the junior Pawar parted ways with his uncle and joined the NDA government in Maharashtra with a bunch of MLAs.