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

The rift within the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Maharashtra’s Opposition alliance, was exposed again on Saturday (April 4, 2026), as the Congress broke with its partners in declaring that it would contest the upcoming bypoll for the Baramati Assembly seat.

The seat fell vacant after the death of Nationalist Congress Party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in January. His widow and successor Sunetra Pawar is the ruling alliance’s candidate for the seat. 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 told The Hindu it was likely to support her candidature. The third major MVA partner, the NCP faction headed by Sharad Pawar, has already said it will not field a candidate to oppose Ms. Pawar.

State’s political culture

The Hindu had been the first to report the news of Ms. Pawar’s call to Mr. Thackeray on Saturday (April 4, 2026) morning. By evening, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut officially confirmed that the call had taken place, adding that Mr. Thackeray would hold a press conference soon to announce the party’s decision on Ms. Pawar’s request. “Sunetra vahini called Uddhav saaheb at around 5 p.m. on Friday (April 3, 2026). The Baramati bypoll is an emotional issue. Uddhav saaheb has said in the past as well that Ajit Pawar was his close associate. They had worked in the government together,” a senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader told The Hindu, indicating that Mr. Thackeray is leaning towards supporting Ms. Pawar.

Shiv Sena (UBT) sources pointed out that this is in line with the State’s political culture. “Sunetra vahini had called not as the Deputy Chief Minister, but as a widow who had lost her husband, and who sought support for contesting the polls. It is Maharashtra’s political tradition that when there is a death in the family, the elections to that seat are held unopposed. We have to uphold our culture. It reflects in poor light if we field a candidate in such an election,” a party leader said.

NCP(SP) won’t contest against Sunetra Pawar in Baramati Assembly bypoll: Supriya Sule

Excluded in MVA talks: Congress

The Congress, however, was unfazed by such arguments. Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal told The Hindu that neither Ms. Pawar, Mr. Thackeray, nor Mr. Pawar had approached the party seeking its support. Asked if the Congress would field a Baramati candidate as a representative of the party alone or of the MVA as a whole, Mr. Sapkal said the alliance “dharma” was applicable to all the partners.

“The dharma in an alliance is to hold talks with each other. But here, we are excluded. We are not a part of any talks. Neither has Uddhav Thackeray spoken with us, nor has Sharad Pawar. Sunetra Pawar too has not talked to us,” The Congress leader said.

‘Cannot flip-flop on unopposed polls’

He added that the national party could not change its stance every few months when it comes to such crucial issues. “Till a few months ago, we were complaining about unopposed elections in Maharashtra. We had said that it is against democracy when elections are held unopposed. The BJP had coerced, bribed candidates. How can we go back on our stance within months now? We have decided to contest elections. The party’s senior leadership has also supported us on this decision,” Mr. Sapkal told The Hindu.

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

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also appealed to all parties to extend their support to make the bypolls unopposed.