Baramati bypolls: Congress backs out after last-minute request, withdraws candidate; Sunetra Pawar to win unopposed

Baramati bypolls: Congress has backed out of the Baramati bypolls 2026, from where Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar is in the fray, after last-minute request. Congress has withdrawn its candidate, saying the candidate from the opposing party had “repeatedly and persistently requested” the party to back out of the Baramati bypolls.

Congress withdrew their candidate Akash More's nomination just before the deadline, paving way for Sunetra Pawar to win Baramati bypolls unopposed. “As per directions from the party leadership, I have withdrawn my nomination,” Akash More told reporters. The decision was taken to maintain the state's political culture, decorum and dialogue.

Speaking on why Congress withdrew its candidate from Baramati assembly by-election, Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said the party decided to withdraw its candidate in the wake of the tragic death of then deputy CM Ajit Pawar, husband of Sunetra Pawar, in a plane crash just over two months ago.

Sapkal said Sunetra Pawar had spoken to him three times and even met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi to seek withdrawal of the party candidate.

“The Congress should have contested the election there; we needed to move forward with our ideological stance, but in the last 24 hours, the candidate from Ajit Pawar's faction has repeatedly and persistently requested us to do so,” the Congress state chief said.

“Taking that into consideration, and as our alliance party leaders have also spoken with us, in response to their request, we are withdrawing our candidate from there... In 2029, our candidate will win from there,” Harshwardhan Sapkal said, ANI reported.

Sapkal said, “We are taking two steps back since the bypoll is taking place immediately after the tragic demise of Ajit Pawar. Even though Ajit Pawar started his political career with the Congress, he had joined hands with the BJP for the sake of power.”

The Maharashtra Congress chief also declared that Congress wouldn't be backing any candidate in the Baramati bypolls. He said the party will prepare for a bigger fight in the 2029 assembly polls.

“I am categorically stating that there will be a Congress candidate in Baramati in 2029 who will be elected,” he said.

Despite the Congress' withdrawal, the election will take place on April 23 as several other candidates are still in the fray. Votes will be counted on May 4, along with the vote counting to declare results for Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal, and Kerala.

(With PTI, ANI inputs)