Baramati bypolls: Sunetra Pawar urges voters to honour Ajit Pawar

Polling for the Baramati by-election will be held on Thursday, with 23 candidates, including Sunetra Pawar, contesting the seat

Ahead of Thursday’s Baramati bypolls, deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar has appealed to voters to support her in memory of her late husband, former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, saying the constituency must continue the work and vision he had planned for the region.

While Sunetra Pawar is considered the clear frontrunner, political observers are closely watching whether she can secure the kind of massive victory margins that Ajit Pawar regularly achieved from the constituency. (HT)

Polling for the Baramati by-election will be held on Thursday, with 23 candidates, including Sunetra Pawar, contesting the seat.

While Sunetra Pawar is considered the clear frontrunner, political observers are closely watching whether she can secure the kind of massive victory margins that Ajit Pawar regularly achieved from the constituency.

The bypoll was necessitated following Ajit Pawar’s death in a plane crash near Baramati airport on January 28 this year.

Addressing her final campaign rally on Tuesday, Sunetra Pawar made an emotional appeal to the electorate, urging people to treat every vote cast in her favour as a tribute to Ajit Dada. She said she remained committed to taking forward the developmental plans and aspirations he had envisioned for Baramati.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, speaking at the concluding campaign rally, also called upon voters to participate in large numbers and support “Sunetra Vahini”, describing April 23 as an opportunity for people to honour Ajit Pawar’s contribution to the constituency.

Initially, there was speculation that the by-election could be uncontested. The Congress had fielded a candidate but later withdrew from the contest after appeals from Sunetra Pawar and senior leaders from the NCP, BJP and other political parties, including the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), citing the exceptional circumstances following Ajit Pawar’s death.

Despite the Congress pulling out, 22 independent candidates stayed in the race, making polling necessary.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said in a social media post that he would not be able to vote in the bypoll because of health-related issues.

District election officials said preparations for polling have been completed. Officials said temporary shelters have been erected outside polling centres and water coolers installed to help voters cope with the prevailing heat conditions.

The constituency has around 3.84 lakh registered voters.

With no major opposition party actively contesting the election, the campaign has remained relatively subdued.

In the previous assembly election, Ajit Pawar had retained the Baramati seat by defeating his nephew Yugendra Pawar of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) by a margin of 100,899 votes. Ajit Pawar secured 181,132 votes, while Yugendra Pawar received 80,233 votes, according to Election Commission figures.

Voter turnout in the constituency during that election stood at 71.57%.