Pune/Baramati (Maharashtra): Former Maharashtra Miniter and Shiv Sena leader Vijay Shivtare has maintained that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Baramati constituency in Pune district.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Shivtare posted, "The people of Baramati have decided, I will fight (the Lok Sabha polls) and win."
While the seat-sharing of Mahayuti comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP has not yet been finalised, it is likely that the NCP would field its candidate from the Baramati seat, which is a bastion of the Sharad Pawar family. Former Union Minister Sharad Pawar hails from Baramati in Pune district and has his house - Govindbaug. His daughter and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule is the MP from Baramati. In all likelihood, Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra will contest the polls as an NCP candidate.
However, Vijay Shivtare, a Shiv Sena strongman from the area, is hellbent on contesting the polls from the Baramati seat. It is a well-known fact that Shivtare and Ajit Pawar, who is popularly known as 'Ajit Dada' are rivals and do not share a good rapport.
Shivtare, who met Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde at least twice, has announced that he will contest the polls against Ajit Pawar because of the threat that the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister gave to the people of Purandar.
It is understood that Maharashtra Ministers and Shiv Sena leaders Shambhuraj Desai and Deepak Kesarkar also tried to convince Vijay Shivtare not to fight the polls.
A defiant Shivtare is however visiting the areas of the Baramati constituency. On Sunday, Indapur MLA Dattatray Bharne, who is considered close to Ajit Pawar, met Vijay Shivtare and requested him not to contest the polls.
Shivtare in the past has said that for the sake of the people of Purandar, he would resign from Shiv Sena but contest the polls, as they are against the Pawar family.
If Vijay Shivtare has his way and contests the Lok Sabha polls from the Baramati constituency, it will be a three-way fight between NCP, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shivtare, and in this case, the votes of NCP could be spilt.
Polling in Baramati will be held in the third phase on May 7. Shivtare has been a three-time MLA from undivided Shiv Sena but later supported Eknath Shinde, who orchestrated the fall of the then Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government and supported the BJP to form a government in the state.
