New Delhi, April 9 – Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan administered the oath to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Parth Pawar as a newly elected Member of Parliament (MP) from Maharashtra at Parliament House on Thursday.
35-year-old Parth Pawar took the oath in English in the presence of the Leader of the House, J. P. Nadda, and Congress Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh, along with several other leaders.
He is the son of NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash earlier this year.
Prior to Ajit Pawar's death, his wife, Sunetra Pawar, had been elected to the Rajya Sabha. Following the tragic incident, she took office as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and subsequently stepped down from the Upper House.
Parth Pawar was later elected to the Rajya Sabha with the backing of the NCP's strength in the state Assembly, where the party has 40 MLAs. He had previously contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Maval constituency but was defeated by Shiv Sena's Shrirang Barne.
In a related development, NCP(SP) legislator Rohit Pawar met with Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal on Thursday, urging him to withdraw the party's nominee, Akash More, for an unopposed election of NCP candidate and state Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar in the April 23 Baramati by-election.
Rohit Pawar's plea is important, as Thursday is the last date for withdrawing nominations for the Baramati by-election, in which 47 candidates have filed their nominations.
After meeting Harshwardhan Sapkal, Pawar told reporters, "I requested the state Congress chief to withdraw the party's nominee, which will pave the way for Sunetra Pawar's unopposed election in the Baramati by-election. This is necessary as the by-election is taking place after the untimely death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and the unopposed election will be a tribute to him. It is now up to the Congress party to make a decision. I am quite hopeful about the Congress party's move. It is a national party, and it will make a decision after the due process."
Rohit Pawar stated that the Congress party has taken a stand that the state government should register an FIR in the plane crash in which former Dy CM Ajit Pawar died on January 28.
He further added that he has been pressing for the same for a long time, and ultimately, the FIR was filed in Karnataka with the help of the Congress government there.
During the meeting, Rohit Pawar facilitated a video call with Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala to discuss the sensitivity of the situation.
"Following the loss of a stalwart like Ajit Dada, it is essential to view this election through an emotional lens as a true tribute to him," Rohit Pawar stated.
"As a family member and a karyakarta, I have appealed to Congress to withdraw their nomination," he added.
Earlier, Sunetra Pawar had personally reached out to Harshvardhan Sapkal twice to request an unopposed path; the Maharashtra Congress leadership has deferred the final decision to the "High Command" in Delhi.
"The decision to contest Baramati was taken at the national level. Therefore, any move to withdraw must be discussed with the High Command and follow their counsel," a Congress source indicated.