The Congress has fielded advocate Akash Vijayrao More for the Baramati assembly bypoll. The seat fell vacant after former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash in January. Sunetra Pawar, Ajit Pawar's wife, will contest from the Mahayuti alliance.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved advocate Akash Vijayrao More's candidature on April 5 for the Baramati assembly constituency bye-election.
The 51-year-old More, currently secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, last contested against Ajit Pawar in 2014 but lost his deposit. At a press conference in Baramati after the announcement, More said, “There is the matter of Ajit Pawar’s accident. Despite several efforts, the Mahayuti government has not yet registered an FIR regarding it. If the state government files a case in connection with Ajit Pawar’s accident, I will withdraw my candidacy immediately.”
Maharashtra Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe told The Indian Express, “We will be fighting the Baramati bypoll with all seriousness and purpose.” The contest is likely to be four-cornered, with the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi also fielding a candidate. The NCP (SP) has decided not to contest.
More's father, Vijayrao More, was a Congress MLC in the mid-1990s. More has served as secretary of Pune District Youth Congress and as a Baramati education board member for 10 years.
