Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar is the ruling alliance’s candidate for the Baramati seat. File | Photo credit: PTI
The rift within the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Maharashtra’s opposition alliance, was exposed again on Saturday (April 4, 2026) as the Congress broke with its partners and said it would contest the upcoming Baramati assembly seat bypoll.
The seat fell vacant after the death of Nationalist Congress Party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in January. His widow and successor Sunetra Pawar is the ruling alliance’s candidate for the seat. On Friday evening (April 3, 2026), Ms Pawar called Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to support him in the elections and sources in the opposition party told The Hindu that he is likely to support her candidature. MVA’s third major partner, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction, has already said it will not field a candidate to oppose Ms Pawar.
Political culture of the state
The Hindu was the first to report the news of Ms Pawar’s phone call to Mr Thackeray on Saturday (April 4, 2026) morning. By evening, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut officially confirmed that the call had taken place, adding that Mr Thackeray would soon hold a press conference to announce the party’s decision on Ms Pawar’s request. “Sunetra vahini called Uddhav saaheb on Friday (April 3, 2026) around 5 pm. Baramati bypoll is an emotional issue. Uddhav saaheb has also said in the past that Ajit Pawar was his close associate. They worked together in the government,” a senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader supporting M Packer hinted at leaning towards M Pawar.
Shiv Sena (UBT) sources pointed out that this is in line with the political culture of the state. “Sunetra vahini did not call as deputy chief minister but as a widow who lost her husband and who was seeking support to contest the elections. It is a political tradition in Maharashtra that when there is a death in the family, the election to this seat is held unopposed. We have to preserve our culture. If we field a party leader in such an election, it reflects in a bad light.”
NCP(SP) will not contest against Sunetra Pawar in Baramati Assembly poll: Supriya Sule
Excluded from MVA proceedings: Congress
However, Congress was not swayed by such arguments. Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal told The Hindu that neither Ms Pawar, Mr Thackeray nor Mr Pawar approached the party for support. Asked whether the Congress would field a Baramati candidate as a representative of the party itself or the MVA as a whole, Mr. Sapkal said alliance “dharma” applies to all partners.
“The dharma in the alliance is to hold talks with each other. But here we are excluded. We are not part of any talks. Neither Uddhav Thackeray nor Sharad Pawar has spoken to us. Sunetra Pawar has also not spoken to us,” the Congress chief said.
“You can’t knock on disagreeing polls”
He added that the national party cannot change its position every few months when it comes to such fundamental issues. “Until a few months ago, we complained about unopposed elections in Maharashtra. We said it is against democracy when elections are held unopposed. BJP forced and bribed candidates. Now how can we go back to our stand within months? We have decided to contest the elections. The party leadership also supported us in this decision,” Hindukal said.
Even within the Congress, however, there are differences of opinion, with another leader contradicting Mr. Sapkal. “It is the political tradition of Maharashtra to hold elections unopposed when there is a death in the family. Ajit Pawar was a senior leader. We all think Sunetra vahini should be elected unopposed,” he said.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also appealed to all parties to extend their support so that the polls are not contested.
Published – 04 Apr 2026 22:19 IST
