Dhangar candidate likely to contest Baramati bypoll against Sunetra Pawar

Dhangar community leader Bapurao Solankar announced on Monday that his community is likely to put up a candidate to contest the by-poll for the crucial Baramati assembly seat, from which Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar had hoped to win uncontested, since it used to be represented by her late husband Ajit Pawar.

The development came even as the Election Commission of India announced the schedule of by-elections for two assembly constituencies in Maharashtra, namely Rahuri in Ahilyanagar district, and Baramati in Pune district.

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According to the schedule announced by the EC, voting will be held on April 23, 2026, and counting of votes will be done on May 4, 2026. Both the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly seats fell vacant after the deaths of Rahuri Rahuri MLA Shivaji Bhanudas Kardile and Baramati MLA, late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

The Dhangar community is likely to put up a candidate against Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar from Baramati, because it is upset about the Maharashtra state government’s decision to rename the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Medical College in Baramati after the late Ajit Pawar.

The Dhangar community opposed this renaming decision and a protest was held in Baramati on March 9 in the presence of OBC leader Laxman Hake after which Dhangar leader Bapurao Solankar warned that if the Maharashtra government does not withdraw its ordinance regarding renaming of the hospital, then the Baramati by-election will not be allowed to go unopposed. Descendants of the Holkar family had also requested that the name of the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Medical College remain unchanged.

After the late Ajit Pawar’s demise in the January 28 air crash, the Maharashtra government decided to name the government general hospital attached to the Government Medical College in Baramati and the Government Ayurvedic College at Medad after late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The decision was formalised through a notification issued by the state government’s Medical Education and Drugs Department.

As per the Maharashtra government notification, the medical college in Baramati will continue to be known as Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Government Medical College, but the hospital attached to it is now called Swargiya Ajitdada Pawar General Hospital. Similarly, the Government Ayurvedic College at Medad could be renamed as Swargiya Ajitdada Pawar Government Ayurvedic College & Hospital.

Reacting to the Dhangar community’s warning that Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar will not be allowed to win unopposed from the Baramati assembly, Baramati Taluka NCP President Sandeep Bandhal said, “This is not the time for politics. Neither Baramati nor Maharashtra has yet recovered from the shock of Ajit Pawar’s accidental death. The state government has decided to name the hospital in Baramati after Ajit Dada. Therefore, I appeal to the Dhangar community that we should all come together and stand by Sunetra Pawar”.

However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “We will try to ensure that both the Baramati and Rahuri by-elections are held unopposed. However, if an election is imposed on us, we are fully ready to contest the election”.

According to the interim voter list released by the Election Commission, there are more than 3 lakh 80 thousand voters in Baramati. Around 70,000 to 75,000 voters are from the Dhangar community.

However, political circles have speculated that the chances of a candidate put up by the Dhangar community getting a majority from the Baramati assembly seat are rather slim.