Ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls to fill the Rajya Sabha seat left vacant by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan's death last month, Pawar has told NCP legislators in Maharashtra to vote for Rahul Bajaj.

Pawar, the Union agriculture minister is upset by the manner in which a couple of Congress ministers heckled him in Parliament on the issue of wheat imports.

His current move is seen as a message to the Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi that it cannot take the NCP's support for granted in Maharashtra or in New Delhi where both parties are part of a coalition government.

As the Congress leadership expressed concern over his move, Pawar shrugged it off and declared that Bajaj's contribution to Maharashtra is immense and the state needs business icons like him.

Pawar said there is nothing to fear in terms of communal politics despite Bajaj being supported by the BJP and Shiv Sena against Congress nominee Avinash Pande, saying Bajaj's father (Kamalnayan Bajaj) and grandfather (Jamnadas Bajaj) were both Congress stalwarts.

Photograph: Jewella C Miranda

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Rahul Bajaj on his Rajya Sabha bid