Shiv Sena leader from Purandar Vijay Shivtare, who had declared that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate from the Baramati constituency, changed his stand on Saturday, days after he met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and two Deputy CMs.
The leader of the Eknath Shinde-led party said he won’t contest the polls from Baramati in Pune district, which is the political stronghold of NCP founder Sharad Pawar’s family, and instead campaign for the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
A day later, he met Devendra Fadnavis at his Sagar bungalow in Mumbai.
“To avoid inconvenience to CM and Mahayuti, I have decided not to contest polls from Baramati,” he said.
Shivtare’s rebellion could have posed trouble for Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which fielded Sunetra Pawar from Baramati. The Sharad Pawar-led NCP has also officially announced the candidature of his daughter and three-term Baramati MP Supriya Sule from the constituency.
As Shivtare met Shinde Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar on Wednesday evening, there were speculations on his change of stand.
Speaking at a press conference Shivtare said, “I was firm to contest the Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate. But it was affecting the MahaYuti.”
“Earlier Chief Minister was also angry about my decision as I had criticized Ajit Pawar. But later he had instructed me to withdraw my stand and cooperate with Ajit Pawar,” said Shivtare a two-time MLA and former minister.
In local politics, Shivtare and Pawar family members including Ajit Pawar are considered as bete noire. The earlier announcement by Shivtare had triggered friction among the NCP and Shiv Sena as the parties along with the BJP are a part of the Mahayuti in the state. The discord became more apparent amid Shivtare’s attacks on Ajit Pawar.
Before the announcement, Shivtare met his party workers in Purandar tehsil in Pune district on Saturday.
He said, “My main concern was Purandar Airport and Gunjwane project. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister have promised to give momentum to these projects. Even they are coming to Saswad to address the rally during the campaign.”
As Shivtare warned to contest the election, Ajit Pawar got disturbed as his wife Sunetra Pawar is contesting from there.
On March 26, Shiv Sena initiated the process to serve a show cause notice to Shivtare for defying the party line and using ‘objectionable’ language against an alliance partner leader. The party has asked Shivtare to submit a written reply to the show cause notice served to him within three days.
In the last assembly election, Pawar had openly challenged Shivtare and warned that he would defeat the latter in the 2019 elections. Subsequently, Shivtare was defeated from the Purandar assembly constituency. In the past, Shivtare has had heated arguments with MP Supriya Sule, too, on various occasions.
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