Pune: Wednesday was supposed to be yet another hectic day for Ajit Pawar. He was scheduled to address four campaign rallies for zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections after landing at Baramati airstrip around 9am. The first rally was scheduled at 10am in Nirwagaj and the day’s last was planned in Supa village around 5.30pm.On Jan 24, Ajit Pawar kicked off his party’s campaign for the Feb 5 polls. The next day, he addressed directors and office bearers of various cooperative societies in Baramati. He returned to Mumbai on Tuesday for administrative meetings but planned to spend the next few days again in Baramati and in the district’s rural areas. An NCP worker said Ajit Pawar toured almost all districts in the last three months for municipal council and corporation polls, and he had a big campaign plan for zilla parishad polls. “He not only concentrated on west Maharashtra—NCP’s stronghold —but also held rallies in Nagpur, Amravati, Chandrapur and Akola, where the party fought independently. He used to travel by plane, helicopter and road.” Vishwas Devkate, former Pune zilla parishad president and close aide of Ajit Pawar, said immediately after the civic poll results, the NCP chief held a series of meetings with party workers and senior leaders, laying out a roadmap for the rural elections. “He personally oversaw the selection of candidates, holding consultations across tehsils and distributing party tickets.”
