22 independents still in fray but no major challenge for Sunetra Pawar in Baramati bypoll

PUNE: With just an hour left for withdrawal of nominations, Congress on Thursday responded to requests from the Pawar family and Mahayuti partners, and dropped its candidate against NCP chief Sunetra Pawar in Baramati. However, 22 independents remained in the fray. Polling is on April 23 and the votes will be counted on May 4.

Uttam Dighe, returning officer for Baramati assembly constituency, said, "A total of 55 candidates filed their nominations. Two were disqualified and till the end of the deadline, 30 candidates withdrew their nominations, leaving 23 candidates in the fray."

Political manoeuvring was at its peak on Thursday. CM Devendra Fadnavis dialled state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal. The CM said, "I requested Sapkal to follow the tradition of Maharashtra and withdraw from Baramati the way BJP did after the death of former home minister RR Patil." 22 independents still in race against Sunetra

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, who had earlier said that Congress was not wrong in contesting the Baramati bypoll, on Thursday advised his alliance partner in the Centre and state to withdraw. "Maharashtra lost a talented politician like Ajit Pawar. The Baramati seat fell vacant due to a tragic accident and against this backdrop, my advice to the Congress would be to not contest the seat. It is a national party and we can at the most appeal to them. Ultimately, it must decide," Pawar added.

His daughter and Baramati MP Supriya also appealed to the Congress to withdraw and Ajit Pawar's nephew and NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar met Sapkal in Mumbai with the same request. Sapkal then told the party candidate Akash More to withdraw.

He said that the decision was a mark of respect to Ajit Pawar but the Congress's opposition to the NCP for joining the BJP-led alliance will continue. "Following the state's culture, we decided to withdraw our candidate in Baramati but will continue to criticise NCP's decision of joining a communal party like the BJP. NCP should not have capitulated to be part of govt," he added.

Targeting the BJP, Sapkal said, "It is unfortunate that even after the suspicious death of a senior politician like Ajit Pawar, govt did not register an FIR. His wife and deputy CM Sunetra Pawar's request to transfer the investigation to CBI has not been accepted which shows that govt is trying to hide something."

Sapkal claimed that apart from Sunetra Pawar and a few other NCP members, no senior functionaries had approached the Congress with a request to pull out of the contest.

State NCP chief Sunil Tatkare said, "Some may say that Praful Patel and I did not make enough efforts in Delhi to reach out to the Congress leadership. It is not true. We tried our best to contact (Congress president) Mallikarjun Kharge but he was campaigning in Kerala and Tamil Nadu."

Tatkare said, "I thank the Congress for upholding Maharashtra's culture by not putting up a candidate against Sunetra. Ajit Pawar started his political career with Congress and even after the formation of the NCP, he worked closely with the party in an alliance. We are happy that Congress respected Ajit Pawar."

Jay Pawar, NCP chief's younger son and member of the party's apex committee, said, "We took all efforts but failed to have an unopposed election. Nevertheless, we will plan our campaign to ensure that my mother wins."
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