Nagpur, April 9 The Congress will face consequences if it does not allow NCP president and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar to win the Baramati assembly by-election unopposed, said minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Thursday.
The party’s “downfall” will begin from Baramati, he said, emphasizing that the people of Baramati and Maharashtra desire that she be elected unopposed, according to the BJP leader.
The April 23 by-election was necessitated after the tragic death of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who headed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28. After his death, his wife Sunetra became the party president.
The NCP, BJP, and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are partners in the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state.
"The Congress will face consequences if it does not allow Sunetra to win unopposed from Baramati. Its downfall will begin from Baramati if it does not withdraw its candidate," Bawankule told reporters in Nagpur.
Amid efforts to ensure an unopposed contest, the Congress has fielded advocate Akash More for the by-election.
The party had stated that it would withdraw from the contest only if a First Information Report (FIR) were registered in Ajit Pawar’s death in the Baramati plane crash.
Responding to another question, Bawankule said that the BJP’s performance would be more robust in the Assam and Kerala elections compared to the last assembly polls in these states. Assembly polls are being held in a single phase in Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry on Thursday.
"These elections will once again demonstrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and garner support from the people," he said.