Addressing the media Thursday, Kakade revealed that the loan given to Jay Pawar was an advance for a property he intends to purchase. “It is not really a loan. I am in the process of buying a bungalow from him and the amount is an advance of that transaction,” Kakade said. Kakade’s nomination had become controversial as former state legislator Sunil Tingre, who was close to late NCP leader Ajit Pawar, was interested in contesting the election from the Pune constituency. Since Parth Pawar had given his word to Kakade, party sources said, he was preferred over the senior Tingre. This disappointed a lot of workers, and upset Tingre. “I was upset earlier, but I am a loyal worker of Ajit Pawar. And so whoever is the candidate, I had to work loyally for him to make sure he wins,” Tingre told the media Thursday. By evening, once MVA candidate Shrikant Patil of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) pulled out of the race, Kakade won unopposed. Speaking to ThePrint, NCP spokesperson Umesh Patil said, “Kakade is a well-known businessman, and so is Jay Pawar. There are business dealings between them, and he did not try to hide it. It is all out in the open. There is no harm in doing business. Also, this is not a recent payment, it is at least two years old. There is transparency in what they have done.” Parth Pawar remained unreachable for comment. After the demise of Ajit Pawar, the influence of Parth Pawar has grown within the party. From regular visits to the Pawar stronghold of Baramati and holding meetings with party workers and functionaries to overlooking projects initiated by his father and getting a Rajya Sabha nomination for himself, Parth Pawar has been carving out a sharper, higher profile of late. Last month, senior party leaders had expressed discontentment with Parth Pawar’s growing influence as he started taking decisions on appointments in the party. Sources close to Parth Pawar told ThePrint that he is building his own team of young people. Also Read: Maharashtra MLC polls once again expose Mahayuti cracks, push leaders into damage control mode Tingre, whose named had cropped up in the Pune Porsche hit-and-run case of 2024 when he visited the police station after the accused was brought in, had contested unsuccessfully for an Assembly seat in 2024; he later wanted to contest the local body authorities elections. Many functionaries and workers from Pune were upset that official candidate was Vikram Kakade, son of Sanjay Kakade, who had a fight with Ajit Pawar in 2017. They believe that the NCP lost the Pune Municipal Corporation in 2017 because of Sanjay Kakade who crossed over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the elections. According to the NCP functionaries, Kakade had taken a few NCP workers along as well. On Wednesday, Parth Pawar met Tingre, and pacified him after which he took back his nomination form. “I don’t really know what happened, or whether my father went to Sharad Pawar to talk about me. We had prepared for a contest but I thank him for pulling out,” Kakade told mediapersons after winning. Kakade’s nomination papers also became the talk of the town because of the total assets he declared. He is a real estate developer by profession. His total assets are worth Rs 150 crore, movable accounting for almost Rs 79 crore, including Rs 7.5 lakh in cash and deposits of about Rs 29 lakh in various banks. Apart from this, 410 grammes of gold, more than 5 kg of silver, luxury boats, luxury watches, and expensive cars are also included. (Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya) Also Read: With son taking control, a ‘catch-22’ for Sunetra? Cracks widen in NCP over Parth’s leadership style
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