Sunetra Pawar files nomination, Rohit urges ally Congress to withdraw; Sena (UBT) undecided
Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar filed nomination Monday for the Baramati bypoll, necessitated by the demise of her husband Ajit Pawar in a plane crash, even as the Congress too entered the fray.
While NCP-SP leader Rohit Pawar urged ally Congress to withdraw the nomination, another alliance partner, Shiv Sena (UBT), has not yet decided which way to go.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut said that there is still time before the election campaign begins.
“There is still time. Today, the nomination starts. Then there will be time to withdraw and only then the election campaign begins. We are anyway not contesting so will decide what to do. Sunetra Pawar has already dialled Uddhav Thackeray so he will decide later,” Raut said.
“Our important ally Congress has put up a candidate because they don’t believe in unopposed candidates so will see what to do,” Raut added.
However, speaking to the media, NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar backed the Congress. “One can expect the election to be fought. If the Congress has fielded a candidate, it is their right.”
Meanwhile, requesting anonymity, a Shiv Sena UBT leader told ThePrint, “In politics some decisions need to be handled very carefully and with patience. This is not our party’s matter. The NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) is clearly on the side of Sunetra Pawar. We are in no hurry. There is time to withdraw the nomination.”
बारामतीतील विद्या प्रतिष्ठान येथे आज मा. अजितदादांच्या स्मृतीस्थळाचे दर्शन घेतले. दादा आज आपल्यात नसले, तरी त्यांच्या विचारांची शिदोरी, त्यांच्या कार्याची उंची आणि त्यांनी दिलेली मूल्ये प्रत्येक क्षणी सोबत आहेत. या स्मृती स्थळासमोर उभे राहताच त्यांच्या सहवासातील असंख्य आठवणी मनात… pic.twitter.com/olWnXTG1rK
— Sunetra Ajit Pawar (@SunetraA_Pawar) April 6, 2026
“Besides, in the past, even Ajit Pawar had put up a candidate in Pimpri Chinchwad when late Laxman Jagtap’s wife was contesting. But Ajit Pawar still put up the candidate. So this is a matter of convenience, and anyway this has nothing to do with the Shiv Sena UBT. Our strategy will be decided later,” the leader added.
Voting will take place on 23 April.
Also Read: Was happy with social work, entered politics to support husband, says Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra
Unopposed is not ‘tradition’—Cong
Congress’ Akash More filed his nomination on Monday.
Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe, in a statement, rejected claims that the election should be held unopposed, and accused the BJP of adopting a “convenient” political stance.
“If unopposed is the tradition, what happened in Nanded Lok Sabha after the demise of Vasant Chavan? There are many such examples. The way Ajit Pawar died under mysterious circumstances, that needs to be enquired. Rohit Pawar has been running from pillar to post to file an FIR, but it happened in Karnataka,” Londhe said.
“If the FIR gets filed in Baramati, only then we will think of this election otherwise,” Londhe added.
Ajit Pawar, who represented Baramati for seven consecutive times since 1991, died in a plane crash on 28 January. After his death, his wife Sunetra was chosen to replace him as the deputy CM and also NCP party president.
बारामती विधानसभा मतदारसंघात होणाऱ्या पोटनिवडणुकीसाठी मा. सुनेत्राकाकी आज उमेदवारी अर्ज दाखल करतायेत. ही निवडणूक बिनविरोध व्हावी अशी आमच्या सर्वांची इच्छा आहे, त्यामुळं उमेदवारी अर्ज भरणाऱ्या इतरांना आणि त्यांच्या पक्षालाही ही निवडणूक बिनविरोध करण्याची आमची विनंती आहे आणि ते मान्य… pic.twitter.com/wUXsMsQusF
— Rohit Pawar (@RRPSpeaks) April 6, 2026
Sunetra Pawar was a Rajya Sabha member and for her to continue to be the deputy CM, she has to win the bypoll.
Before filing her nomination amid a show of strength, Sunetra Pawar visited the Smriti Sthal of Ajit Pawar and paid tributes to him.
Later, while speaking to the Karyakartas, she said, “Baramati stood firm with Ajit Pawar. This is a democracy so I respect it. So even if the elections do happen, I believe you will stand with me firmly. This is not just an election for me. It is Dada’s dream. Our trust,” she said.
Baramati has been a Pawar family bastion since the times of Sharad Pawar from 1960s.
Sunetra Pawar ‘s nephew and NCP-SP leader Rohit Pawar said in a post on X, “Today, Sunetra Kaki is filing her nomination for the Baramati Assembly bypoll. We all wish that the poll should be held unopposed. I urge other aspirants not to file their nomination papers,” he said
The ruling Mahayuti alliance also wants the election to be unopposed. BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule appealed to the Congress to withdraw the nomination
“Ajit Pawar has worked 80 percent of his political career with Congress. So I appeal to Congress and everyone to respect him and let the election be unopposed. And stand with Sunetra taai,” Bawankule told the media.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: ‘Focus on your own party’: NCP rejects Rohit Pawar’s claim of insider bid to wrest power from Sunetra
