Baramati bypoll: Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule urge Congress to withdraw candidate | India News
New Delhi: Senior NCP (SP) leaders including party chief Sharad PawarSupriya Sule, along with Rohit Pawar, on Thursday appealed to the Congress to withdraw their candidature against NCP president and Maharashtra Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar in the Baramati Assembly bypoll.The by-election was necessitated by the death of then Maharashtra deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in January. He held the Baramati seat – a Power family stronghold since the 1960s – winning it consistently since 1991.Sunetra Pawar is the wife of Ajit Pawar.Sharad Pawar, who founded the NCP and led it for 24 years before Ajit Pawar split the party in July 2023, acknowledged that the final decision rested with the Congress but urged it to withdraw its candidate.“Congress is a national party, and we cannot direct it to withdraw its candidate. However, the Baramati seat has become vacant due to a tragic accident that took away an able leader from Maharashtra. If asked, I would suggest that it would be appropriate for the Congress to hold this by-election uncontested,” he told reporters in Baramati.The Congress, a part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi along with NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), has fielded advocate Akash More for the April 23 bypoll.Sharad Pawar’s daughter and Ajit Pawar’s cousin, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule also made a similar appeal to the Congress.“Ajit Dada earlier worked closely with the Indian National Congress and always maintained cordial relations with your party. An uncontested election in Baramati will be a true tribute to him. I humbly request the Congress to withdraw its candidate and help ensure that the by-election is held uncontested,” Sule said.Both Sharad and Ajit Pawar were with the Congress before Sharad Pawar founded the NCP in June 1999.Earlier, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s granddaughter, met Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal, requesting him to withdraw his nominee to facilitate his aunt Sunetra Pawar’s unopposed election.The Congress has announced that it will withdraw from the contest, but only if an FIR is registered to probe Ajit Pawar’s death.Opposition parties in Maharashtra have alleged foul play, noting that both the NCP parties were close to merging then. The proposed reunion has since been scrapped.The NCP (SP) has announced that it will not contest the Baramati by-election.The Sunetra Pawar-led NCP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance with the BJP and the Shiv Sena.
