Sunetra Pawar Set To Win Baramati By-Polls As Congress Withdraws Candidate

Mumbai: Congress on Thursday withdrew its candidate for the Baramati by-elections, paving the way for Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Sunetra Pawar to win the seat unopposed. Notably, the development comes on the last day to withdraw nominations from the by-polls.

Earlier this week, Congress, which is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, had fielded Akash Vishwanath More to contest from the seat in a shocking turn of events.

The Baramati by-polls was necessitated after the seat fell vacant following the untimely demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28. Following the tragic incident, opposition parties had extended support to Ajit Pawar's wife, Sunetra Pawar, deciding to allow her to contest the by-polls from Baramati unopposed.

Hence, Congress' move to field a candidate from the seat came across as a shock, with leaders from both the ruling and the opposition alliance requesting the Congress to withdrawn its nomination.

Ajit Pawar's cousin, Supriya Sule, who is in rival NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar, had also requested the Congress to withdraw its nomination, saying, "In this moment of grief and remembrance, an unopposed election in Baramati would serve as a dignified and heartfelt tribute to his legacy of public service and inclusive politics."

Following an internal party discussion today (Thursday), Maharashtra Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal announced, “We discussed internally and were of the view that our decision was correct but considering the tradition of Maharashtra and the communication made, the party decided to withdraw our candidate Akash More from Baramati bypolls.”

He added, “Ajit Pawar’s death was certainly unfortunate. He was also associated with Congress in the past. Sunetra Pawar telephoned me thrice till today. A delegation also met me. Senior NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and Dhananjay Munde requested me on telephone. NCP SP MLA Rohit Pawar also made the same request and expressed regret over the statement made against Congress.”

AICC general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra said the decision was taken out of respect for Ajit Pawar. Some Independent candidates are still in the fray for the elections.

The Baramati by-elections are set to be held on April 23.