Mumbai: After a week of drama, the Congress has withdrawn its candidate from the Baramati bypoll, just a few hours before the deadline for nomination withdrawals. For the past few days, leaders of both factions of the NCP had been trying to convince Congress to take back its nomination, so that Sunetra Pawar, the deputy CM and widow of Ajit Pawar, can be elected unopposed.
Congress Maharashtra President Harshwardhan Sapkal, at a press conference in Mumbai Thursday, said that “considering the tradition of Maharashtra and the communication made, the party decided to withdraw our candidate Akash More from the Baramati bypolls”.
However, with independent candidates in the fray, the Baramati bypoll won’t be completely unopposed. With no major party in front of Sunetra Pawar, though, she is likely set to win the contest without hassle.
Further justifying the decision to withdraw More, Sapkal said, “Ajit Pawar’s death was certainly unfortunate. He has also been associated with the Congress in the past. Sunetra Pawar had telephoned me thrice, as of today. A delegation also met me. Senior NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and Dhananjay Munde requested over the telephone. NCP SP MLA Rohit Pawar also made the same request and expressed regret over the statement made against Congress.”
Thursday morning, Rohit Pawar of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction met Sapkal at an ashram in Mumbai and held a closed-door meeting with him.
Reacting to the Congress’s decision later, Rohit Pawar took to X and said, “After the unfortunate demise of Ajit Pawar, Baramatikars were hoping that the election would go unopposed. And that is a real tribute to Ajit Dada. And accordingly, we welcome and thank Congress leaders for their decision.”
The Congress’s decision follows relentless pressure put on the party from across the political spectrum.
Apart from Rohit Pawar, the NCP-Ajit Pawar sent a five-member delegation, led by Maharashtra Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation Makarand Patil and including MLAs Sanjay Khodke, Rajesh Vitekar, Manoj Kayande, and Sana Malik, to meet Sapkal Thursday.
Speaking to the media, senior leader and MP Sunil Tatkare said, “After all, all’s well that ends well. We welcome Congress’s decision. There was a misunderstanding that we did not approach the Congress leadership. In fact, we, Praful Patel, Sunetra Pawar, and I, called Kharge ji and other leaders over the past few days.”
“I don’t know why they decided to put up a candidate in the first place. This constituency falls under the NCP-SP, whereas it falls under our party in the NDA. So, when Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule decided not to put up a candidate, I don’t know how Congress came into the picture?” Tatkare added.
For the past week, even the BJP has been asking Congress to withdraw the nomination.
Speaking to the media earlier, BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “I request Harshwardhan Sapkal to take back the nomination. I have said this before, as well: this is Ajit Dada’s seat, and the demise is so unfortunate that people are still shocked about it. So Congress should consider people’s opinions and respect their emotions.”
Now, there are 23 candidates in the fray, including Karuna Munde, Dhanajay Munde’s estranged wife. So the election will be held on 23 April.
Since the 1960s, when Sharad Pawar entered politics, Baramati had been a Pawar bastion. When Ajit Pawar decided to take a plunge into politics, he chose to contest from Baramati. He was voted seven times from Baramati until his tragic demise on 28 January this year.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)