Baramati, June 23, 2025 — Tension gripped the Malegaon Cooperative Sugar Factory in Baramati on Monday night as rival groups of supporters gathered in large numbers outside the counting centre, awaiting the results of one of the most politically charged cooperative elections in recent memory.
What should have been a routine factory board election has spiraled into a proxy battlefield between two towering figures of Maharashtra politics: Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar. With Ajit Pawar contesting directly from the Class B representative panel, the contest has drawn intense public and media attention, symbolizing a larger power struggle within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Outside the centre, supporters from both factions have hunkered down, braving the night in anticipation of the results. Police presence has been visibly heightened, with barricades and extra personnel deployed to maintain order as tempers run high. Local authorities are on alert, with some roads in the vicinity closed off to ensure crowd control and safety.
The significance of this election stretches beyond the sugar factory itself. In Maharashtra’s cooperative-driven rural politics, control over such institutions translates to grassroots power and financial clout. A win here is not just symbolic—it’s strategic. Many believe this particular contest could be a litmus test for Ajit Pawar’s political positioning in a post-split NCP landscape, and could either cement his influence in Baramati or give Sharad Pawar’s loyalists a much-needed resurgence.
With counting underway and results expected shortly, political observers are treating this local contest as a bellwether for the state’s shifting political equations. The outcome may well shape the next phase of Maharashtra’s evolving political narrative—especially as both Pawar factions eye dominance in the run-up to local body elections.
For now, all eyes remain fixed on the Malegaon counting centre. The night is long, but its outcome could reverberate well beyond Baramati.
