MUMBAI: NCP chief and deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar on Saturday rang up Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and sought his support for her candidature in the Baramati by-poll scheduled for April 23. The NCP has been looking to ensure an unopposed victory for her, and to this end has been approaching parties to not field a candidate. However, while others were favourably inclined, the Congress was not.
According to NCP insiders, Sunetra dialled Thackeray soon after the Congress on Friday declared its intention to contest the assembly seat which fell vacant after the death of Sunetra’s husband, former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash. Thackeray’s response to the request was that he would discuss the issue with his partymen and take a decision. It is believed that the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief is inclined to support Sunetra and is likely to announce his decision by April 5. Sunetra is expected to file her nomination papers on April 6.
“Sunetra Pawar spoke to the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief on phone and they had a detailed discussion on the election. He will soon make his decision public,” confirmed Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut. Thackeray’s decision to support an NCP candidate instead of his own Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally, the Congress, may also have an impact on the coalition.
Sunetra is likely to make similar requests to other political parties, including the Congress. However, the party has decided to field a candidate and also started the process for candidate selection. It has managed to get support from the Mahadev Jankar-led Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) and the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which may prove significant in the polls. The RSP has a significant following in the constituency, as Baramati has a substantial Dhangar population which follows Jankar.
In 2014, Jankar himself contested the Lok Sabha election in Baramati against Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule but lost in a relatively close contest—although he lost the seat by 69,719 votes, the victory margin of the Pawars in Baramati was never less than 300,000 to 400,000 votes.
NCP insiders said that Sunetra would win the by-poll, as the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) had decided to not fight the election in order to support her. However, optics-wise, the results will not look good, given Ajit Pawar’s stronghold over the Baramati constituency for decades. In the last election, he won by a margin of 100,000 votes over his nephew, NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra, even when NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar used all his influence to ensure Yugendra’s victory.
Baramati has been a Pawar family bastion since 1967 when Sharad Pawar won the assembly election on a Congress ticket. He represented the constituency for six terms. Later, Ajit Pawar won the election from the seat eight consecutive times.
The idea of an unopposed victory for Sunetra was supported even by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on the grounds of “Maharashtra’s political traditions and dignity”. Speaking to reporters, the chief minister said that an uncontested by-election, where parties rose above political differences, would be in keeping with these traditions. “I believe all parties should support Sunetra Tai’s candidature,” he said. “I would request all of them to do this because if the by-poll is unopposed, it will suit the stature of Maharashtra.”
The chief minister pointed to past instances where political parties in the state had not contested by-elections as a mark of respect. Recalling one such instance, he said that after the death of senior NCP leader and former deputy chief minister R R Patil, the BJP had chosen not to field a candidate, resulting in an uncontested by-poll. “I believe that all political parties should be large-hearted and make the by-poll unopposed,” he said.
Maharashtra NCP president Sunil Tatkare reiterated the sentiment in a post on X, saying that Ajit Pawar was “a beloved and towering leader of Maharashtra” and it was “a collective responsibility to show respect” towards him. “Moreover, this would also be in keeping with Maharashtra’s political culture,” he claimed. “Therefore, I request all political parties, whether in the Mahayuti or the Maha Vikas Aghadi, to cooperate in ensuring that this election is conducted unopposed.”
Sunetra Pawar’s younger son, Jay, also insisted on the same thing since the by-poll was “happening in unfortunate circumstances”. “I believe all Baramatikars are of the opinion that it should be held unopposed considering the work and love of Ajit Dada for Baramati and its people,” he told reporters in Baramati.