Baramati By-Election: Five Candidates File Nominations Against Sunetra Pawar

Pune, 2nd April 2026: The by-election process for the Baramati Assembly constituency has begun following the demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. So far, five candidates have filed their nomination papers to contest against Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar.

Interestingly, all five candidates who have filed nominations are from outside Pune district. The nomination process began on March 30.
Those who have submitted their nominations include Satish Kadam from Jat representing the Hindustan Janata Party, Raghu Ghutukade from Sangola contesting on behalf of the New Rashtriya Samaj Party, and three independent candidates — Sharad Bhise from Satara, Gajanan Gawali from Buldhana, and Trishala Kamble from Ulhasnagar.

The last date to file nomination papers is April 6. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 7, while the deadline for withdrawal of nominations is April 9. If candidates do not withdraw, polling will be held on April 23 and counting of votes will take place on May 4.

Meanwhile, the Congress has indicated its readiness to contest the bypoll if the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) decides not to field a candidate. Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar said the party is prepared to contest the seat if its ally refrains from staking a claim. However, the Congress has not yet filed any nomination.

In the previous Assembly election, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) had fielded young leader Yugendra Pawar against Ajit Pawar, who won the seat by a margin of 1,00,899 votes.

Yugendra Pawar has already announced that he will not contest the bypoll and will instead support Sunetra Pawar. With this development, attention has now shifted to whether the Congress will field a candidate in the Baramati by-election.