Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule has hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party after its ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday fielded Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, against her from the Baramati constituency, alleging that it was a design of saffron party to politically finish off NCP founder Sharad Pawar.

Supriya Sule, the cousin of Ajit Pawar, said the intra-family duel in the Lok Sabha polls will not waver her respect for Sunetra Pawar as she is her “elder brother’s wife and like a mother”, news agency PTI reported.

Baramati will go to polls on May 7.

Supriya Sule faces the toughest fight

Supriya Sule, who has won from Baramati thrice and is seeking a fourth term, faces the toughest electoral battle of her career. Though her rival Sunetra Pawar, 60, has not contested any election so far, she has been active in social circles. She is a trustee of the Vidya Pratishthan, a reputed educational institute formed by Sharad Pawar, and is active in several other organisations. She is also the sister of former NCP leader Padmasinh Patil, who was once considered a trusted aide of senior Pawar.

Additionally, Sunetra Pawar is believed to have played a major role in her husband Ajit Pawar’s decision to join the BJP-led camp last year. The latter has significant influence in Baramati and adjacent areas and will leave no stone unturned to get Sule defeated. Both leaders have been campaigning in the constituency for the past several weeks.

The Pawar-versus-Pawar contest is the fallout of a split in the original NCP last year when Ajit Pawar sided with the ruling BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena along with his loyalist MLAs.

Supriya Sule told PTI that Sunetra Pawar is the wife of her “elder brother and the elder sister-in-law is considered as mother”.

“So this ploy (to pit Sunetra against Sule) is against the Pawar family and Maharashtra. The BJP wants to finish off Pawar Saheb. I am not saying this. A senior BJP leader made such a remark after visiting Baramati,” Supriya Sule was quoted as saying.

She alleged that the BJP does not have capable candidates so it has resorted to this “dirty politics”.

The move to field Sunetra Pawar shows it is not for development. “It is a fight only to finish off Pawar saheb,” claimed Supriya Sule.

On rift with Ajit Pawar

When asked about the rift with Ajit Pawar, the Baramati MP said, “It is a conspiracy to create rifts among the Marathi-speaking people. It is a blow from the Delhi throne to Maharashtra’s identity. They have pitted one Marathi against another. Our fight was ideological but the BJP made it personal.”

“Let bygones be bygones, but for me, my sister-in-law, whom we call ‘vahini’ in Marathi, will remain in the position of mother, and my respect for her will remain as before,” Supriya Sule said.

Hitting back, BJP’s state women’s wing chief Chitra Wagh said the commotion in the Sule camp about Sunetra Pawar is nothing but fear of defeat.

“There is no need for the BJP to break someone’s house. The people in the family are wise and take thoughtful decisions,” she said in an apparent reference to the rebellion by Ajit Pawar.

(With inputs from agencies)