NEW DELHI: Senior NCP (SP) leaders, including party chief Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, and Rohit Pawar, on Thursday appealed to the Congress to withdraw its candidate against NCP president and Maharashtra deputy CM Sunetra Pawar in the Baramati assembly bypoll.The bypoll was necessitated by the death of then Maharashtra deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in January. He had held the Baramati seat — a Pawar family stronghold since the 1960s—winning it consecutively since 1991.Sunetra Pawar is Ajit Pawar’s wife.Sharad Pawar, who founded the NCP and led it for 24 years before Ajit Pawar split the party in July 2023, acknolwedged that the final decision rests with the Congress but urged it should withdraw its candidate.“Congress is a national party, and we cannot direct it to withdraw its candidate. However, the Baramati seat fell vacant due to a tragic accident that took away an efficient leader from Maharashtra. If asked, I would suggest that it would be appropriate for Congress to make this bypoll unopposed,” he told reporters in Baramati.The Congress, a part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi along with the NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), has fielded advocate Akash More for the April 23 bypoll.Sharad Pawar’s daughter and Ajit Pawar’s cousin, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule, also made a similar appeal to the Congress.“Ajit dada had earlier worked closely with the Indian National Congress and always maintained cordial relations with your party. An uncontested election in Baramati would be a true tribute to him. I humbly appeal to the Congress to withdraw its candidate and help ensure the bypoll is held unopposed,” Sule said.Both Sharad and Ajit Pawar were with the Congress before Sharad Pawar founded the NCP in June 1999.Earlier, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew, met Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal, urging him to withdraw its nominee to facilitate the unopposed election of Sunetra Pawar, his aunt.The Congress has declared it would withdraw from the contest, but only if an FIR is registered to investigate Ajit Pawar’s death.Opposition parties in Maharashtra have alleged foul play, noting that both NCP factions were close to a merger at the time. The proposed reunion has since been called off.The NCP (SP) has announced it will not contest in the Baramati bypoll.The Sunetra Pawar-led NCP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance along with the BJP and Shiv Sena.
