Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Thursday (April 9, 2026) announced that the party will not contest the upcoming Baramati Assembly by-election. The bypoll to be held on April 23 was necessitated by the death of Ajit Pawar, then Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party’s Baramati MLA, in a plane crash in January. His wife, Sunetra Pawar, now the Deputy CM, is set to contest the election as the Mahayuti candidate.

Source: The Hindu April 09, 2026 15:51 UTC