Congress withdraws candidate against Sunetra Pawar in Baramati by-polls

The Indian National Congress has withdrawn its candidate from the Baramati Assembly by-election, respecting a request from NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule and NCP (AP) president and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar.

The decision was announced on Thursday by state Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal after consultations with senior party leaders. Following this, Congress candidate Ashok More withdrew his nomination.

The Congress clarified that while it had withdrawn its candidate, it had not extended support to Sunetra Pawar, the NCP (AP) nominee. After More’s withdrawal, Sunetra Pawar’s son, Jay Pawar, expressed gratitude to the Congress and More. Meanwhile, state NCP (AP) president Sunil Tatkare said it was not the time for either NCP faction to claim credit.

Despite the Congress withdrawing its candidate, the Baramati by-election will not be uncontested, as 23 independent candidates remain in the fray. As a result, the outcome will be decided through voting.

This situation echoes the 2015 Tasgaon–Kavathe Mahankal by-election, held after the death of R.R. Patil. At that time, his widow Suman Patil contested, and while no major party fielded a candidate against her, the presence of eight independents meant the election was not uncontested. She eventually won by a margin of over 1.12 lakh votes.

Sunetra Pawar will now have to campaign among voters. Jay Pawar said campaigning would begin from Kanheri, featuring images of the late Ajit Pawar. He expressed confidence that she would win by more than one lakh votes. Notably, Ajit Pawar had won the seat by a margin of 1,81,132 votes in 2014.

Meanwhile, the Rahuri Assembly by-election will also not be uncontested. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was unable to secure unopposed victories in both Baramati and Rahuri. In Rahuri, which is held by the BJP, seven independent candidates are in the race. The BJP’s Akshay Kardile is contesting against Sharad Pawar faction candidate Govind Khandu Mokate.

The Baramati seat fell vacant following the untimely death of Ajit Pawar in an air crash, and polling is scheduled for 23 April. Neither Sharad Pawar nor Uddhav Thackeray fielded candidates against Sunetra Pawar.

However, the Maharashtra government’s refusal to register an FIR in connection with the crash had prompted the Congress to field a candidate initially, intensifying political activity in the state. The BJP and NCP (AP) had been attempting to ensure an uncontested election, but the Congress had set a condition that it would reconsider withdrawing its candidate if an FIR was registered.

Although no such case was filed, the Congress eventually withdrew its candidate, citing respect for requests from leaders of both NCP factions and Chief Minister Fadnavis.

Sapkal said the Congress had fielded a candidate based on its ideological position, but maintained that the BJP was acting against constitutional values and alleged that the Election Commission was functioning as its “B team”. He added that the failure to register a case in the Ajit Pawar incident was unfortunate for Maharashtra.