He was included in the committee interviewing aspirants for PMC and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) polls. While he was in the process of selecting candidates to put up a fight against rival parties, his son Surendra joined BJP recently. The switch of Surendra Pathare from NCP (SP) to BJP has angered Sharad Pawar’s party members in Pune. They have voiced their displeasure in no uncertain terms to NCP (SP) state president Shashikant Shinde, pointing out the conflict of interest in including Pathare in the panel.“While Bapu Pathare is interviewing aspirants for NCP (SP), his own son is now in the rival camp. How can he maintain an objective stand, especially while selecting candidates for the ward his son will be representing? Therefore, we have demanded his removal from the selection panel at the earliest,” a senior office-bearer of Pune unit of NCP (SP) said. NCP member Bapu Pathare joined BJP in 2019. However, just before 2024 assembly polls, he left BJP to join Sharad Pawar faction of NCP and won from the Wadgaon Sheri seat. Some NCP (SP) members felt that they had been taking on BJP and its alliance, but Pathare allowed his son to join BJP. “If Pathare was loyal to the party, he would not have allowed his son to join BJP. His son would have easily got a ticket from NCP (SP), but he was being opportunistic and therefore, he should be removed from the committee,” another NCP (SP) member said, requesting anonymity.Responding to the demands for the removal of Pathare from the committee, the state NCP (SP) presidentsaid, “Our party works on democratic values, and every member has the freedom to take his or her decisions. We will not remove him from the committee.”
