Congress To Not Fight Baramati Assembly Bypoll Against Sunetra Pawar

Congress not to fight Baramati assembly bypoll, party's state unit asked to withdraw candidate, said Senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday, April 9, reported PTI. The by-election for Baramati assembly seat will be held on April 23. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of then Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28. The NCP and NCP (SP) have been looking an uncontested victory in Baramati. While the Opposition, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) have extended their support for an unopposed bypoll in Baramati, the Congress had nominated its state unit secretary, Akash More. Now, Chennithala has said that the Congress will withdraw its candidature. The Congress announced More's candidature on Sunday, hours

after Sunetra Pawar dialled state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, urging him to ensure an unopposed bypoll. More is the son of former party MLC Vijayrao More and belongs to the Dhangar community.Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe, in a statement, rejected claims that the April 23 by-election should be held unopposed, and accused the BJP of adopting a "convenient" political stance. However, he had said that the party will consider withdrawing from the Baramati assembly bypoll if a first information report (FIR) is registered in the plane crash that killed former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.The Congress leader raised concerns over the circumstances surrounding Ajit Pawar's death and noted that the family has demanded a probe into the matter, and Sunetra Pawar had sought an inquiry by the CBI.He also pointed out that NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar had made repeated efforts to get an FIR registered in Maharashtra, but succeeded only in Karnataka.Sunetra Pawar filed the papers in the presence of her party colleagues Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde and Hasan Mushrif as well as Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, and state minister and BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule on April 6. The three parties comprise the ruling Mahayuti.Before filing her nomination papers, she made an emotional appeal to the people of Baramati to stand by her in the same way as they always supported her late husband Ajit Pawar.