Baramati bypoll: We won't put up candidate against Sunetra Pawar, says Supriya Sule

After the June-July 2023 split, the family members had contested against each other in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.

Mumbai: Sending out a message that the Pawar-family is united, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said that it would not field any candidate against Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister and NCP national president Sunetra Pawar during the by-election to the Baramati seat. 

After the June-July 2023 split, the family members contested against each other in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. 

After the political churning, the NCP is part of the BJP-led Maha Yuti alliance while the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which is part of the Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc. 

The Election Commission announced the by-elections to Baramati (Pune) and Rahuri (Ahilyanagar) on April 24, with counting scheduled for 4 May. 

The by-election in Baramati has been necessitated because of the death of then NCP national president Ajit Pawar, an eight-term MLA and six-time Maharashtra deputy chief minister. 

Following the death, Sunetra Pawar was sown in as the Maharashtra deputy chief minister and subsequently unanimously elected NCP national president. 

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Ajit Pawar pitted his wife Sunetra Pawar against his cousin Supriya Sule in Baramati. However, the latter won the polls. Sule polled 7,32,312 votes while Sunetra Pawar garnered 5,73,979 votes. However, the NCP later sent Sunetra Pawar to the Rajya Sabha. 

In the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, Ajit Pawar won the Baramati seat by 1,00,899 votes over his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar. He polled 1,81,132 votes while Yugendra polled 80,233 votes.

Ajit Pawar had won the Baramati seat in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024. 

“I've already clarified that NCP (SP) will not contest the Baramati bypoll. We'll not field our candidate against Sunetra Vahini (sister-in-law). As far as the Rahuri seat is concerned, the MVA partners will deliberate on the seat and a decision will be taken in the next couple of days,” Sule told reporters in New Delhi on Monday. 

Her statement comes days after, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar urged political leaders and parties to ensure that Sunetra Pawar is elected unopposed from Baramati. 

Sunetra Pawar is currently neither an MLA nor an MLC, and is constitutionally required to secure a seat in the state legislature within six months of being sworn in as deputy chief minister. 

Ajit Pawar, popularly known as Dada, one of Maharashtra's most influential leaders and Sharad Pawar's nephew, died on January 28 when a Learjet business jet he was on crashed while landing at the Baramati airfield.