MVA rift: Uddhav likely to back Sunetra Pawar in Baramati bypoll, but Congress not on board

The rift within Maharashtra’s Opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi re-emerged on Saturday, April 4, 2026, when the Congress broke away from its partners by declaring that it would contest the upcoming general election for the Baramati Assembly seat.

The seat fell vacant following the death of Nationalist Congress Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in January. His widow and successor Sunetra Pawar is the ruling alliance’s seat candidate. On Friday evening (April 3, 2026), Ms Pawar called Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to seek his support for the election and sources from the Opposition party said: Hindu was likely to support his candidacy. The third major MVA partner, the NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar, has already said it will not field a candidate to oppose Ms. Pawar.

Political culture of the state

Hindu He was the first to break the news of Ms. Pawar’s call to Mr. Thackeray on Saturday morning, April 4, 2026. In the evening, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut officially confirmed that the call had taken place and added that Mr. Thackeray would soon hold a press conference to announce the party’s decision on Ms. Pawar’s request. “Sunetra vahini It is called Uddhav saaheb Around 17:00 on Friday, April 3, 2026. Baramati bypoll is an emotional issue. Uddhav saaheb He has also said in the past that Ajit Pawar is his close associate. A senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said they are working together in the government. HinduIt shows that Mr. Thackeray is inclined to support Ms. Pawar.

Shiv Sena (UBT) sources pointed out that this was in line with the political culture of the state. “Sunetra vahini He made the appeal not as Deputy Prime Minister but as a widow who had lost her husband and was seeking support to contest the elections. It is the political tradition of Maharashtra that when there is a death in the family, elections for that seat are held unopposed. We need to protect our culture. “It would be in a bad light if we field a candidate in such an election,” said a party leader.

Supriya Sule: NCP(SP) will not contest against Sunetra Pawar in Baramati Assembly

Excluded from MVA talks: Congress

But Congress was unimpressed by such allegations. Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said: Hindu Neither Ms Pawar, Mr Thackeray nor Mr Pawar had approached the party for support. Asked whether the Congress would field a Baramati candidate as a representative of the party alone or the MVA as a whole, Mr. Sapkal said the ‘dharma’ alliance applies to all partners.

“The dharma in an 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 spoke to us. Sunetra Pawar also did not speak to us,” the Congress leader said.

‘No changes can be made in unopposed polls’

He added that the national party cannot change its stance every few months when it comes to such important issues. “Till a few months ago, we were complaining about the unopposed elections in Maharashtra. We had said that holding the elections without an opponent was against democracy. The BJP forced the candidates and bribed them. Now, how can we return to our stand within months? We decided to participate in the elections. The senior leadership of the party also supported us in this decision,” Sapkal said. Hindu.

But even within the Congress there are differences of opinion; another senior leader contradicts Mr. Sapkal. “It has been the political tradition of Maharashtra to hold unopposed elections at such times when there is a death in the family. Ajit Pawar was a tall leader. We all think Sunetra was.” vahini “He should be elected unopposed,” he said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also appealed to all parties to increase their support to avoid being contested in the by-polls.