Mumbai, Apr 23 (PTI) A voter turnout of 58.27 per cent was recorded by 6 pm on Thursday in the byelection to Baramati Assembly constituency in Maharashtra where deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar is a contestant, election officials said.
The turnout was estimated at 56.20 per cent in Rahuri, another assembly constituency where a byelection was held.
Polling began at 7 am and ended at 6 pm. The process was peaceful in both places, officials said.
The death of then Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party president Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28 necessitated the bypoll in Baramati.
His wife Sunetra Pawar, who is contesting her first assembly poll, is likely to sail through riding a sympathy wave, and given her family’s strong hold on the constituency. No major political party has fielded candidates against her.
The results will be announced on May 4.
The Rahuri assembly seat became vacant after BJP MLA Shivaji Kardile’s death in October last year. His son Akshay Kardile is in the fray as a BJP candidate. NCP (SP)’s Govind Mokate and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’s Santosh Chalke are among his main rivals.
In Baramati, there were a total of 23 candidates in the fray, including Sunetra Pawar.
During the campaigning, she urged voters to support her as a tribute to her late husband. The total number of registered voters in the constituency is 3.84 lakh.
Sunetra Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s younger brother Srinivas Pawar, and his wife Sharmila cast their votes at Katewadi polling booth early in the morning.
The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) did not field any candidate against Sunetra Pawar, giving a virtual walkover to her.
Congress had fielded Akash More but the party later decided to withdraw his candidature.
Talking to reporters, Sunetra Pawar said, “People of Baramati are coming in big numbers to cast their votes. I would not say it is out of enthusiasm, but they are stepping out to fulfil their duty. By doing so, they are paying tribute to Dada (‘elder brother’ in Marathi, as Ajit Pawar was called by his supporters).
“For the past 60 years, the people of Baramati have supported the Pawar family. This bypoll is taking place in the absence of Ajit Dada, and while casting their votes, people are paying their respects to him,” she added.
Ajit Pawar’s 89-year-old mother exercised her franchise from home, the deputy CM said.
Before casting her vote, Sunetra Pawar paid tributes to Ajit Pawar on the premises of Vidya Pratishthan College in Baramati where his last rites had been held.
Asked about Ajit Pawar’s uncle and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar not being able to cast his vote, Sunetra Pawar said she enquired about his well-being.
The 85-year-old former Union minister was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on April 19 for a check-up. He was discharged on Thursday afternoon.
Parth Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s son, also cast his vote in the morning at Katewadi polling booth.
Ajit Pawar’s younger son, Jay Pawar, appealed to people to come out in large numbers to vote as a mark of respect for the late NCP leader.
After her husband’s death, Sunetra Pawar replaced him as deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti alliance government on January 31.
According to the constitutional provisions, she will have to become a member of one of the two houses of the state legislature – assembly or council – within six months of taking oath.
Ajit Pawar had won the Baramati assembly seat, a bastion of the extended Pawar family, for the last several decades. In the 2024 assembly polls, he defeated his nephew Yugendra Pawar of the NCP (SP). PTI MR SPK GK RSY NP KRK
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