‘As a mark of respect to Ajit Pawar’: Congress withdraws Baramati by-election candidate

New Delhi: The Congress party on Thursday announced that it would withdraw its candidate for the April 23 Baramati by-election, a move raised by Maharashtra deputy minister and NCP chief Sunetra Pawar.Announcing the decision, Congress party’s Maharashtra chief Ramesh Chennithala said it was a “show of respect” for Ajit Pawar.Ajit Pawar, then deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and Baramati MP, died in a plane crash in January. Sunetra Pawar is his wife.

“To show respect for him (Ajit Pawar), the Congress party will not contest the by-elections,” Chennithala told PTI.Thursday is the last day to withdraw nominations. Congress candidate Akash More has filed papers for the by-election.Top leaders of the ruling party Mahayutthi and the National Communist Party (SP) have been urging the Congress party to withdraw its candidates so that unopposed elections can be held in Baramati. The Congress Party (SP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) are allies of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.The NCP is part of the ruling Mahayuti party, along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena.Chennithala’s remarks came after senior leaders of the National Communist Party (SP) including the party general secretary Sharad PawarCongress MP Supriya Sule and MLA Rohit Pawar once again urged the Congress not to challenge the by-election polls.“Congress is a national party and we cannot direct it to withdraw its candidate. However, due to a tragic accident, the Baramati seat fell vacant, leading to the departure of an effective leader in Maharashtra… If asked, I would advise the Congress not to object to this by-election,” Sharad Pawar told reporters in Baramati.A day earlier, Sunetra Pawar had spoken to Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal and urged him to ensure that Congress candidates withdraw from the race.The grand old party had earlier announced that it would quit only if an FIR was registered to investigate Ajit Pawar’s death. Opposition parties claimed wrongdoing and noted that both factions of the NCP were close to merging at the time – a move that was later rescinded.Ajit Pawar represented Baramati Assembly constituency eight times.