NCP (SP) tally reduces to 10 as Sharad Pawar’s sharpened attacks on former colleagues fail to work

PUNE Sharad Pawar’s heightened rhetoric during the final stretch of the assembly election campaign, marked by personal attacks on former colleagues and labelling them as ‘traitors’, appears to have yielded limited returns. Despite his direct appeals to voters to defeat defectors decisively, the results show the strategy backfired in most constituencies.
The NCP-SP contested 87 seats but managed to win only 10, eight of which were from Western Maharashtra—a region Pawar was heavily relying on. The party’s strike rate dropped to around 12%, with an overall vote share of just 11.28%. This was in sharp contrast to the party’s Lok Sabha performance when it had won eight of the 10 seats contested, recording an 80 per cent strike rate.
Pawar’s campaign was characterised by sharp personal jabs at defectors, accusing them of betraying the party’s values and appealing to voters to punish them. This approach was evident in rallies across constituencies such as Ambegaon, Madha, and Tasgaon, where Pawar urged voters to deliver resounding defeats to leaders who had switched loyalties.
In Ambegaon, Pawar directly accused Dilip Walse Patil of betrayal, urging voters to teach him a lesson. However, Walse Patil retained the seat, defeating NCP (SP) candidate Devdatta Nikam. Pawar senior also attacked Chhagan Bhujbal, for “crossing all limits,” expressing disappointment over his decision to join Ajit Pawar. Bhujbal however won Yeola’s seat by a reasonable margin.
Similarly, in Wadgaonsheri, Pawar labelled Sunil Tingre “a shame” and accused him of being complicit in shielding the “Porsche crash teen.” Tingre narrowly lost to NCP (SP)’s Bapu Pathare by just 4,710 votes, with the margin determined in the final two rounds.
Abhay Deshpande, political analyst, said, “This outcome is a bigsetbackk for the senior Pawar. Pawar campaigned aggressively and worked hard but it seems that it was not enough for him. Now he may have to face challenge to retain his elected MLAs.”
At Madha, Pawar’s fiery rhetoric included a warning: “Mess with anyone but me.” However, his confrontational stance did not translate into electoral gains, as opposition candidates in the region capitalised on the polarising narrative.
The strategy of targeting defectors seems to have strengthened their position in key constituencies. In several instances, candidates who were directly criticized by Pawar emerged victorious with comfortable margins.
Even on his home turf of Baramati, Sharad Pawar’s aggressive campaign failed to significantly dent Ajit Pawar’s dominance. Despite Sharad Pawar’s appeal to voters to support the “next generation,” Ajit Pawar retained the seat with a commanding lead of nearly 1 lakh votes.
Pawar’s traditional hold over rural Maharashtra, particularly through his advocacy for farmers’ rights, did not yield the expected outcomes. In districts like Kolhapur and Pune, where Pawar has historically wielded significant influence, voters aligned more with the Ajit Pawar faction and Mahayuti candidates. Pawar’s criticism of BJP’s farm policies and his calls to defeat defectors fell flat, with the opposition leveraging his attacks to consolidate their voter bases.
Pawar’s rhetoric appears to have alienated key segments of voters, particularly urban and younger demographics. While some analysts believed the strategy could energize his core supporters, others warned that the vitriol might repel moderates and undecided voters.
Moreover, the focus on defections inadvertently reinforced the loyalty of defectors’ supporters. In constituencies like Ambegaon and Yeola, the narrative that Mahayuti leaders were victims of Pawar’s “autocratic” leadership resonated, bolstering their prospects.
The assembly election results highlight a significant challenge for Sharad Pawar as he seeks to redefine his party’s relevance in Maharashtra’s shifting political landscape. While his attacks energised his campaign, the backlash suggests the need for a recalibrated strategy to rebuild voter trust and counter the defections that have weakened his faction.