'Mark of respect': Congress withdraws from Baramati bypoll, clears path for Sunetra Pawar

Mumbai: Ending weeks of suspense and scoring brownie points, the Congress opted out of the by-elections for Maharashtra’s prestigious Baramati seat, paving the way for a smooth sailing for deputy chief minister and NCP national president Sunetra Pawar.

The crucial by-elections were necessitated because of the death of the then NCP national president Ajit Pawar (66), popularly known as Ajit Dada, an eight-term MLA and six-time deputy chief minister.

Congress candidate Akash More, a lawyer-politician and son of former MLC Vijayrao More, withdrew his nomination papers at the instructions of the Congress high-command.

“As a mark of respect (for Ajit Pawar) the Congress will not contest the by-election,” AICC general secretary Ramesh Chennithala said.

More was accompanied by Sunetra Pawar’s younger son Jay Pawar, when he withdrew the papers. “I want to thank him for the withdrawal of candidature,” Jay said.

On the last day of withdrawal, 23 candidates including Sunetra Pawar remains in fray.

In fact, a total of 53 nominations were found valid.

Other prominent Independent candidates are Karuna Munde, the estranged first wife of NCP leader and Dhananjay Munde and Abhijeet Bichukale, a highly controversial personality, who originally hails from the Satara district.

The withdrawal at the fag end of the deadline came after Maharashtra Congress president Harshavardhan Sapkal made the announcement in Mumbai.

While Sunetra Pawar spoke to Sapkal twice in two days, NCP working president Praful Patel also reached out to Congress president and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

Even Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who head the BJP-led Maha Yuti coalition is learnt to have spoken to Sapkal.

During the NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar and NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule sent out messages to the Congress while MLA Rohit Pawar called on Sapkal.

“Congress is a national party, and we cannot direct it to withdraw its candidate. However, the Baramati seat fell vacant due to a tragic accident that snatched away an efficient leader from Maharashtra…If asked, I would suggest to Congress that it would be appropriate to make this bypoll unopposed,” the Pawar Senior said.

“Ajit Dada’s political journey began with the Congress party, and he maintained a long-standing, respectful association with it throughout his career. 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,” said Sule.

"We discussed internally and were of the view that our decision to contest elections from Baramati was correct as the NCP had aligned with BJP. However, considering the tradition of Maharashtra and the communication made, the party decided to withdraw our candidate Akash More from Baramati bypolls…we are not supporting anyone…we are withdrawing from the elections…there is no question of give an take in this,” said Sapkal, a former MLA.