Congress on Thursday withdrew its Baramati candidate, advocate Akash More, from the by-election against Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader and Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar following appeals by several political leaders and a phone call from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to State Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal.
Talking to media persons on Thursday, Fadnavis said, “It is a tradition of Maharashtra to hold by-elections unopposed in certain sensitive cases. I discussed the Baramati byelection with Harshwardhan Sapkal over the phone. After our conversation, I felt positive, though I was unsure of his final decision.”
Senior leaders from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, including Praful Patel, had also requested that the Baramati assembly by-election be held unopposed. Several other political leaders in the state also made similar efforts to ensure that the election is held unopposed.
Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Rohit Pawar met Maharashtra State Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal on Thursday morning, while the party’s Working President and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule also requested the Congress to allow the Baramati by-election to be held unopposed.
Sharing the details about how the issue was resolved, Sapkal told media persons at Gandhi Bhavan, “Two by-elections are being held in Maharashtra — in Rahuri and Baramati — of which, Baramati has drawn the most attention. Our candidate filed his nomination to oppose the BJP’s ideological stance. The Congress has taken a stand against the BJP not only in Baramati but across the country. A total of six applications were received for the Baramati seat. However, Rohit Pawar met me early in the morning and requested that the Baramati election be held unopposed, urging a cooperative approach regarding Ajit Pawar.”
“Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule also made requests. After this, we discussed the matter with the Congress leadership. Our stand remains that we should fight. However, as a matter of culture and sensibility, we decided to withdraw from the Baramati by-election,” Harshvardhan Sapkal said.
Sapkal also confirmed that Fadnavis had called him on Thursday morning. “I received a call from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and he asked me to withdraw from the Baramati by-election. However, there is no connection between his call and the decision taken by the Congress. Devendra Fadnavis used the word ‘culture’. Many other people also made a sincere request to withdraw from the Baramati by-election,” Harshwardhan Sapkal said.
“Leaders from factions of the NCPs established a dialogue with the Congress and requested the withdrawal of the candidate. Senior Ajit Pawar-led NCP leaders, including Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and former Minister Dhananjay Munde, also called and made the same request. A delegation comprising NCP ministers Makarand Aba Patil and MLAs Manoj Kayande, Sanjay Khodke, Sana Malik and Rajesh Vitekkar also visited Gandhi Bhavan and appealed for the withdrawal of our candidate. Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Rohit Pawar also met me this morning and made a similar request,” Harshwardhan Sapkal said.
“Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar also spoke with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Following her request, the decision was made after discussions with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, party in-charge Ramesh Chennithala and senior state leaders. Following this, after discussions with all the prominent state leaders and the party leadership, the Congress has decided to withdraw its candidacy from Baramati. While we may have taken two steps back today, in the 2029 elections, Baramati will have a Congress MLA,” Harshwardhan Sapkal said.
The Baramati by-election is being held after the late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who represented that assembly constituency, passed away on January 28, 2026, in a tragic air crash. Voting for the by-election to the Baramati assembly constituency will be held on April 23, and the result will be announced on May 4.