Sunetra Pawar set to win Baramati bypoll (IMAGE: X)
Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal said the party will pull its candidate out of the Baramati Assembly by-election, after the Chief Minister and other senior leaders asked for an unopposed vote on April 23.
Speaking to reporters, Sapkal explained, “We wanted to send a message against the BJP by contesting in Baramati. Not just there, but also in Rahuri, we said we’d take on the BJP. We were already doing door-to-door campaigning.”
The Congress had chosen Akash More to run against NCP leader Sunetra Pawar. But after Ajit Pawar, a key NCP figure and veteran politician, died in a plane crash on January 28 near his stronghold of Baramati, Congress decided to withdraw as a gesture of respect. Now, Sunetra Pawar, late Ajit Pawar’s wife, is contesting in his place.
Both NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had asked for an uncontested election in Baramati to honour Ajit Pawar’s legacy and show unity. Congress finally agreed, following growing calls from all sides of the political spectrum to let the Baramati by-election happen without any challenge, after Ajit Pawar’s sudden and tragic death.
The April 23 by-election came about after the deputy chief minister passed away, and that really set off a push for a symbolic, uncontested race.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis actually called up Harshwardhan Sapkal, the state Congress chief, and asked him to pull the Congress candidate out of the contest against Sunetra Pawar.
“After Ajit Pawar’s sudden death, Baramati has to hold a by-election. Ajit Dada started out in politics with the Congress, and he always kept respectful ties with the party throughout his career,” Sule posted on X.
On April 6, Sunetra Pawar filed her nomination papers. She wasn’t alone. She was joined by party leaders like Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, and Hasan Mushrif.
The event also saw Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who leads the Shiv Sena, and Chandrashekhar Bawankule, a minister from the BJP. All three NCP, Shiv Sena, and BJP make up the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
Before filing her papers, Sunetra made a heartfelt request to the people of Baramati, asking them to support her, just like they always stood by her late husband, Ajit Pawar.
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