Ajit Pawar: Ajit Pawar campaigned in municipal council and municipal panchayat elections with 39 rallies
On Tuesday (2 December), voting took place for 264 municipal councils and nagar panchayat elections in the state. In this election, all three leaders of the Mahayuti — Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar, and Eknath Shinde — entered the fray and campaigned vigorously. However, the key leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi did not appear active in the elections. During this time, the points from Ajit Pawar's speeches became noteworthy throughout the election campaign. Deputy Chief Minister and President of the Nationalist Congress Party, Ajit Pawar, seemed to focus his speeches on Bahujanism and development. The entire election campaign revolved around the issue of funds raised by Ajit Pawar.
Ajit Pawar held several rallies in Konkan, North Maharashtra, Western Maharashtra, and Vidarbha. While explaining the stance of the Nationalist Congress Party, he presented the ideology of Shiv-Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar and issues of developmental work, appealing to the voters. In terms of development, through many rallies, Ajit Pawar presented the Baramati model of development to the people and appealed to voters to implement similar development in those respective areas. On this occasion, Ajit Pawar's Baramati model once again came into discussion in the state. In his speeches, he engages in open conversation with people in a rural tone, and light-hearted jokes are also a hallmark of Ajit Pawar's speaking style. As a result, his speeches received special attention in the media this time.
Even while being with the BJP, they reiterated before the people during this election campaign that the Nationalist Congress Party’s secular ideology and the stance of justice for all sections of society remain unchanged. They expressed the intention to carry out development work while in power. They said they want to achieve development in the same way as they did in Baramati and Pimpri Chinchwad, and in this manner, through their speech, they appealed to voters and also emphasized development.
In his speech, Ajit Pawar brought up the issue of funding to support local development, which led Chandrakant Patil from the Mahayuti to respond to him. Eventually, Devendra Fadnavis also replied, saying that the treasury is in our house. Eknath Shinde had to call from a public meeting to say that his ministers work according to his word in response to the funding issue. Other leaders gave speeches responding to Dada's speech, and thus Ajit Dada remained at the center of the campaign.
Throughout the day, Ajit Pawar held five to seven meetings daily in different districts, conducting campaign tours across Maharashtra in this manner. Preserving Maharashtra's progressive legacy, we are moving forward; in the same way that the late Yashwantrao Chavan showed direction to Maharashtra, we want to take Maharashtra ahead. In the meetings, he also emphasized issues concerning farmers, women, youth employment, planned development of cities, water problems, environment, population growth, as well as the concerns of the deprived, Dalits, minorities, tribals, and backward communities of the Bahujan society. In all of Ajit Pawar's campaigns, it was observed that rather than making big promises, the focus was on problems at the village level.
Meeting with Santosh Deshmukh's family
While on an election campaign tour in Beed district, on the first death anniversary of Massajog's Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, Ajit Pawar also met with Santosh Deshmukh's family. Offering condolences to Santosh Deshmukh's family, he assured full support regarding the education of Deshmukh's daughter Vaibhavi and the family's legal battle. Even though there was criticism from the opposition parties, Ajit Pawar's display of sensitivity was also discussed.