"Ajit dada started another Pawda celebration...": NCP (SCP) leader Rohit Pawar

"This ritual of celebrating the Diwali Padwa was started by Sharad Pawar in Baramati...People come here to meet him and for the past 35-40 years this tradition has been going on...Ajit Dada started another Pada celebration...This tradition was of Pawar Sahab (Sharad Pawar) in Maharahstra and the BJP people were having problems with this...Therefore they first broke the family, then broke the party and then started another Padwa celebration through Ajit Dada...They should be asked why they started another Padwa celebration...People here, who support Pawar Sahab come to meet him," Rohit Pawar told ANI.

Amid rising political tensions ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Pawar family divided its Padwa festivities.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar greeted people at his residence on the occasion of Diwali Padwa, in Baramati.

In a separate event in Baramati, Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar and NCP (SCP) MP Supriya Sule greeted people at his residence on the occasion of Diwali Padwa.

Diwali Padwa, also known as Bali Puja or Bali Pratipada, is celebrated on the first day of Kartik Pratipada, which follows Diwali Puja.

The Baramati constituency in Maharashtra is again going to witness a family battle as NCP leader Ajit Pawar will face his nephew Yugendra Pawar. He is the son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother Shrinivas Pawar.

Baramati also witnessed a high-profile battle in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Sunetra Pawar contested against NCP (SCP) candidate Supriya Sule. The latter won the contest by 1.5 lakh votes.

Both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress -- have intensified their preparations for the upcoming elections to 288 Assembly seats in the State. The BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance alongside the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Maharashtra elections will be held in a single phase on November 20 with counting of votes held on November 23.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42. (ANI)