3 min readPuneApr 5, 2026 04:42 AM IST
First published on: Apr 4, 2026 at 06:23 PM IST
Even as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar Friday called up Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and sought his help for the Baramati Assembly bypoll, Sena UBT ally Congress indicated that it was determined to contest the seat and would announce the name of its candidate by Saturday evening. The Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), too, said it would field a candidate.
The Baramati Assembly constituency fell vacant after its sitting legislator, Ajit Pawar, died in a plane crash in January. Ajit Pawar had won the Baramati Assembly seat eight consecutive times.
“Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar yesterday (Friday) called up our party chief and sought support for Baramati bypoll… The party chief will soon announce his decision,” said Sena UBT spokesperson Sanjay Raut at a press interaction in Mumbai on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Jay Pawar, son of Sunetra and Ajit Pawar, said, “We are hopeful that the Baramati bypoll would be unopposed. Sharad Pawar saheb also wants it to be an unopposed election. Our party seniors have also contacted the Congress leaders in this connection. But if there is no consensus, we are prepared to fight the elections.”
“The people of Baramati know who worked relentlessly for them… the people of Baramati have an emotional attachment with Ajitdada. Everyone knows what Baramatikars (Baramati residents) will do,” he added.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Harshvardhan Sapkal said the party would contest the Baramati election as no one has requested them not to contest. “There has been no proposal from any party for an unopposed election. Nobody has contacted us. And, therefore, we will field our own candidate not just for Baramati but also for Rahuri bypoll,” he added.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had last month appealed that the Baramati bypoll should be unopposed as per the ‘tradition’ in Maharashtra after the death of a prominent political figure.
Asked about his cancelled press conference last month on Ajit Pawar’s plane crash, Jay Pawar said, “Some of the points which I had to raise were already raised by Rohit Pawar… And, therefore, I cancelled the scheduled press conference. I will hold a final press conference after the final report of the plane crash comes in.”
The bypolls for the Baramati and the Rahuri Assembly seats will be held on April 23. The results would be announced on May 4.
The Rahuri seat fell vacant due to the death of sitting BJP MLA Shivajirao Kardile.
The Baramati Assembly constituency fell vacant after its sitting legislator, Ajit Pawar, died in a plane crash in January. (File Photo) 
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