Mumbai, April 5 The Congress fielded its state unit secretary, Akash More, against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Sunetra Pawar, for the Baramati by-election scheduled for April 23.
He is the son of former party MLC, Vijayrao More, and belongs to the Dhangar community, according to Congress leaders.
He will file his nomination papers on Monday, which is the last date for the process, they added.
Currently a Rajya Sabha member, Sunetra Pawar will also file her nomination papers on Monday.
Incidentally, Sunetra Pawar contacted state Congress chief, Harshwardhan Sapkal, and urged him to ensure a unopposed by-election to the Baramati assembly segment, which she is contesting. A day earlier, Sunetra Pawar had sought the support of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief, Uddhav Thackeray.
The opposition NCP (SP) has already announced that it would not contest the by-election as a mark of respect for the late Ajit Pawar, who represented the Baramati segment.
The by-election was necessitated due to the death of sitting Nationalist Congress Party MLA and then deputy CM, Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28. He represented the seat, in Pune district, eight times, with some of his victories coming with record margins.
The vote counting will take place on May 4.