Supriya Sule, MP and daughter of NCP founder Sharad Pawar, has successfully defended her Baramati seat against Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This victory, a significant blow to the Ajit Pawar faction, reflects a power struggle that has deepened the divide within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) since Ajit’s breakaway in 2023.
The Ajit Pawar-led faction backed Sunetra’s challenge to Supriya after he controversially joined Maharashtra’s Mahayuti coalition with the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction. Supriya Sule’s win has symbolized loyalty to Sharad Pawar’s legacy and an ideological stand against the BJP’s policies in Maharashtra. Speaking to the press, Sule emphasized that her battle was not against her family members but against what she called a BJP-influenced ideology within the state’s administration.
The NCP split has created two camps: the Sharad Pawar-aligned NCP(SP) and the Ajit Pawar-led faction. While Ajit’s alliance with the ruling coalition has given him significant influence in state policy, it has faced backlash, particularly in the Baramati stronghold. With the Ajit Pawar camp experiencing setbacks in both public support and election outcomes, political analysts suggest that Supriya Sule’s victory strengthens her and Sharad Pawar’s stance within the NCP.
Ajit Pawar acknowledged the challenge of the election, admitting that “society dislikes family division” but defended his faction’s approach as ideologically motivated.
