Congress In Maharashtra Mocked For Belatedly Withdrawing From Baramati

The Congress party in Maharashtra is mocked for its ‘historic’ decision not to contest the Baramati assembly by-election for which deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar is the formidable candidate. State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal’s verbose justification for keeping away from the fray has generated more ridicule than praise. The prominent constituency in Pune district has unfailingly elected only a Pawar family member since 1967 and no exception is likely to take place this time, too. Sharad Pawar’s parliamentary career began from Baramati. Finally, the Congress asked its candidate Akash More to withdraw from the contest, which has left 23 hopefuls in the arena, which will elect Sunetra with a thumping majority on 4 May. Even though this was crystal clear from the beginning, Sapkal decided to go ahead with announcements that the field will not be left open for the NCP (Ajit) to walk away with victory without a fight. He was expecting support from within the party but none stood for him. His selection of Akash More also smacked of the caste factor. More belongs to the Dhangar (shepherd) community, which has a sizable population in the constituency. More’s father Vijay was a sworn opponent of veteran Sharad Pawar but failed to make any difference in Baramati. Moreover, when Pawar himself declared support for Sunetra, the fate was sealed. Even then, Sapkal stuck to his stand, ultimately embarrassing the Congress party.