Sunetra Pawar Marches Ahead In Baramati, BJP's Akshay Kardile Leads In Rahuri
NCP head Sunetra Pawar secured 53,478 votes by the end of the sixth round of counting.
Mumbai : Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Sunetra Pawar was comfortably ahead of her rivals in the Baramati assembly bypoll as vote counting progressed on Monday. In the Rahuri assembly seat byelection, BJP's Akshay Kardile was ahead of his rivals, as per trends available so far on the Election Commission's website.
Polling for the two seats was held on April 23.
Pawar secured 53,478 votes by the end of the sixth round of counting on Monday, while 21 of the other 22 little-known candidates have not been able to cross the 200-vote mark so far.
A voter turnout of 58.27 per cent was recorded in the Baramati assembly constituency located in Pune district.
The seat fell vacant following the death of then Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28, necessitating the bypoll.
His wife Sunetra Pawar, contesting her first assembly poll, is set to win the seat with a huge margin over her rivals, riding a sympathy wave and given her family's strong hold on the constituency. No major political party has fielded candidates against her.
During the campaign, she urged voters to support her as a tribute to her late husband.
The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) did not field any candidate against Sunetra Pawar, giving a virtual walkover to her. The Congress had earlier fielded Akash More, but the party later decided to withdraw his candidature.
After her husband's death, Sunetra Pawar replaced him as deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti alliance government on January 31.
According to the constitutional provisions, she will have to become a member of one of the two houses of the state legislature - assembly or council - within six months of taking the oath.
Ajit Pawar had won the Baramati assembly seat, a bastion of the extended Pawar family, for the last several decades. In the 2024 assembly polls, he defeated his nephew Yugendra Pawar of the NCP (SP).
The Rahuri seat in Ahilyanagar district became vacant after BJP MLA Shivaji Kardile's death in October last year.
His son and BJP nominee Akshay Kardile was leading over his nearest rival, NCP (SP) candidate Govind Mokate, by over 41,000 votes, as per the latest trends.
The Maharashtra assembly has 288 seats. The ruling Mahayuti alliance has 235 seats (BJP-132, Shiv Sena-57, NCP Ajit-41, allies-5), while the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi combine has 50 seats (Shiv Sena UBT-20, Congress-16, NCP SP-10, others-4).
