Sunetra Pawar Steps Into the Political Spotlight in Dramatic By-Election

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar will file her nomination for the Baramati assembly by-election on April 6. This election, scheduled for April 23, follows the tragic death of her husband Ajit Pawar in a plane crash earlier this year. The NCP and Congress show differing strategies.

Sunetra Pawar, the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and the newly elected president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is poised to file her nomination for the Baramati assembly by-election on April 6. The election is set to take place on April 23, following the unfortunate demise of her husband, Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash.

Pawar, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, will be accompanied by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde during her nomination filing at a public meeting in Baramati. Her late husband, Ajit Pawar, had been an influential figure, securing the Baramati seat with remarkable margins in both the 2019 and 2024 assembly elections.

While Sunetra Pawar steps forward, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has declared it will refrain from contesting the by-election, leaving the Congress to potentially challenge the seat. Another by-election will occur simultaneously in Ahilyanagar district's Rahuri following BJP legislator Shivaji Kardile's death.

(With inputs from agencies.)