Congress not to contest Baramati bypoll for Ajit Pawar: Chennithala

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday said his party will not contest the bypoll to the Baramati assembly seat, from where Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar is seeking an election following the death of her husband Ajit Pawar.

Talking to PTI, the AICC general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra said he has asked the Congress' state unit to withdraw its candidate from the poll fray.

Today is the last day of withdrawal of nomination.

"The Baramati bypoll was necessitated due to the tragic death of Ajit Pawar. As a mark of respect for him, Congress will not contest the by-election," he said.

 

Congress's Akash More had filed his nomination for the April 23 bypoll.

Top leaders from the ruling Mahayuti as well as opposition NCP (SP) had been appealing the Congress to withdraw its candidate for an unopposed election in Baramati.

Earlier in the day, NCP (SP) leaders, including party chief Sharad Pawar, MP Supriya Sule and MLA Rohit Pawar, again urged the grand old party not to fight the bypoll.

Sharad Pawar said that since the bypoll is being held in the backdrop of the tragic plane crash that claimed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's life, he would advise the Congress not to be a part of the contest.

"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 snatched away an efficient leader from Maharashtra...If asked, I would suggest to Congress it would be appropriate to make this bypoll unopposed," he told reporters in Baramati.

A day earlier, Sunetra Pawar had spoken to Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal to request him to ensure that his party's candidate withdraws his nomination against her in the bypoll.

The Congress had said that it would withdraw from the contest only if an FIR were registered in Ajit Pawar's death in the plane crash in January.

The run-up to the bypoll turned acrimonious after Parth Pawar, son of Sunetra Pawar, recently criticised the Congress for fielding a candidate and predicted the party's "downfall".

Ajit Pawar had represented the Baramati assembly constituency eight times.