MUMBAI: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has decided to nominate Parth Pawar, the 35-year-old son of deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar, to contest the biennial elections of Rajya Sabha scheduled on March 16. While an official announcement to this effect will be made soon, a party insider confirmed that “he will be the party’s candidate for the polls”.
On the other hand, former Mumbai south central MP Rahul Shewale is the front-runner for the position from Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, there has been no announcement from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) about its nomination. Leaders have said that discussions will begin once NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar is discharged from hospital.
If elected, Parth will be the fourth member from the Pawar family to become the member of the Rajya Sabha after Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule and his mother Sunetra Pawar. He was recently embroiled in a controversy over the Mundhwa (Pune) land deal that involved the transfer of a 40-acre prime plot owned by the state government to Amadea Enterprises LLP, in which Parth is a majority partner. The economic offence wing (EOW) filed its chargesheet in the deal, which did not name Parth, while the six-member committee, headed by Vikas Kharge, additional chief secretary revenue department, to investigate the deal also reportedly gave him a clean chit.
Earlier, NCP had plans to replace Parth in place of his mother Sunetra, who is set to vacate the Rajya Sabha seat, as she is expected to contest the by-elections from the Baramati assembly constituency in place of her husband, late deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. In that case, Parth would have enjoyed the tenure for a little over two years, as Sunetra was expected to retire from the position on July 4, 2028.
“The state BJP leadership is also on the same page so there will not be any difficulty in electing Parth as Rajya Sabha MP,” said a senior NCP functionary.
Parth has been out of electoral politics for the last seven years after suffering defeat in 2019. He entered politics by contesting the elections from Maval Lok Sabha constituency but suffered a defeat with over 2.15 lakh votes against sitting (undivided) Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Barne.
Both Mahayuti allies — Shiv Sena and NCP — are expected to contest one seat each while the BJP is likely to get four seats; one seat will go to the opposition coalition. It is believed that Sharad Pawar, whose Rajya Sabha term is ending on April 2, is keen to contest the elections, although he is yet to confirm it.
“It is unlikely that either Congress or Shiv Sena (UBT) will oppose Pawar’s name. But a dialogue will have to be initiated which is likely to happen once he is out of the hospital,” said an MVA insider.
Pawar is likely to get discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. He was admitted to a private hospital in Pune twice within a fortnight.