Mumbai: Bypoll to the Baramati assembly seat in Maharashtra's Pune district, where Deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar was in the fray, recorded a voter turnout of around 50 per cent till 5 pm on Thursday, officials said.
The voting percentage in Rahuri assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district, which also saw a bypoll, was 50.74 per cent, they said.
Voting, which began at 7 am, concluded at 6 pm.
The death of then Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Ajit Pawar, who was the sitting MLA from Baramati, in a plane crash on January 28, necessitated the bypoll.
His wife Sunetra Pawar, who is contesting her first assembly poll, is most likely to sail through riding a sympathy wave, and given her family's strong hold on the constituency. No major political party has fielded candidates against her, making her election a mere formality.
The results will be announced on May 4.
The Rahuri assembly seat became vacant after BJP MLA Shivaji Kardile's death in October last year. His son Akshay Kardile was in the fray as a BJP candidate from the seat, and was pitted against NCP (SP) candidate Govind Mokate and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi's Santosh Chalke.
In Baramati, there were a total of 23 candidates in the fray, including Sunetra Pawar.
During the voting process, she urged voters to support her as a tribute to her late husband Ajit Pawar. The total number of registered voters in the constituency is 3.84 lakh.
Sunetra Pawar, Ajit Pawar's younger brother Srinivas Pawar and his wife Sharmila cast their votes at the Katewadi polling booth in Baramati early in the morning.
The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) did not field any candidate against Sunetra Pawar, giving a virtual walkover to her.
Congress had fielded Akash More but the party later decided to withdraw his name.
Talking to reporters, Sunetra Pawar said, "People of Baramati are coming in big numbers to cast their votes. I would not say it is out of enthusiasm, but they are stepping out to fulfil their duty. By doing so, they are paying tribute to Dada (as Ajit Pawar was fondly called)." She noted that the by-election is being held in an emotional atmosphere.
"For the past 60 years, the people of Baramati have supported the Pawar family. This bypoll is taking place in the absence of Ajit Dada, and while casting their votes, people are paying their respects to him," she added.
Ajit Pawar's 89-year-old mother exercised her franchise at home, the deputy CM said.
Before casting her vote, Sunetra Pawar paid tributes to Ajit Pawar on the premises of Vidya Pratishthan College in Baramati where his last rites were held.
Asked about Ajit Pawar's uncle, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, not being able to cast his vote, Sunetra Pawar said she enquired about his well-being.
Sharad Pawar, in a social media post, rued that he would not be able to cast his vote in Baramati as he is unwell and hospitalised.
The 85-year-old former Union minister was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai a few days ago for a health check-up.
Parth Pawar, son of Ajit Pawar, also cast his vote in the morning at the Katewadi polling station in Baramati.
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Ajit Pawar's younger son, Jay Pawar, also appealed to people to come out in large numbers to vote as a mark of respect to the late NCP leader.
After her husband's death, Sunetra Pawar replaced him as deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti alliance government on January 31.
According to the constitutional provisions, she will have to become a member of one of the two houses of the state legislature - assembly or council - within six months of taking oath.
Ajit Pawar had won the Baramati assembly seat, a bastion of the extended Pawar family, for the last several decades. In the 2024 assembly polls, he defeated his nephew Yugendra Pawar of the NCP (SP).
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
