MVA rift: Uddhav likely to back Sunetra Pawar in Baramati bypoll, but Congress not on board

Uddhav Thackeray may support Sunetra Pawar in Baramati bypoll, while Congress insists on fielding its own candidate.

The rift within the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Maharashtra’s Opposition alliance, was exposed again on Saturday (April 4, 2026), as the Congress broke with its partners in declaring that it would contest the upcoming bypoll for the Baramati Assembly seat.

The seat fell vacant after the death of Nationalist Congress Party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in January. His widow and successor Sunetra Pawar is the ruling alliance’s candidate for the seat. On Friday evening (April 3, 2026), Ms. Pawar called Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to seek his support for the election and sources from the Opposition party told The Hindu it was likely to support her candidature. The third major MVA partner, the NCP faction headed by Sharad Pawar, has already said it will not field a candidate to oppose Ms. Pawar.

The Hindu had been the first to report the news of Ms. Pawar’s call to Mr. Thackeray on Saturday (April 4, 2026) morning. By evening, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut officially confirmed that the call had taken place, adding that Mr. Thackeray would hold a press conference soon to announce the party’s decision on Ms. Pawar’s request. “Sunetra vahini called Uddhav saaheb at around 5 p.m. on Friday (April 3, 2026). The Baramati bypoll is an emotional issue. Uddhav saaheb has said in the past as well that Ajit Pawar was his close associate. They had worked in the government together,” a senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader told The Hindu, indicating that Mr. Thackeray is leaning towards supporting Ms. Pawar.

Shiv Sena (UBT) sources pointed out that this is in line with the State’s political culture. “Sunetra vahini had called not as the Deputy Chief Minister, but as a widow who had lost her husband, and who sought support for contesting the polls. It is Maharashtra’s political tradition that when there is a death in the family, the elections to that seat are held unopposed. We have to uphold our culture. It reflects in poor light if we field a candidate in such an election,” a party leader said.

NCP(SP) won’t contest against Sunetra Pawar in Baramati Assembly bypoll: Supriya Sule

The Congress, however, was unfazed by such arguments. Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal told The Hindu that neither Ms. Pawar, Mr. Thackeray, nor Mr. Pawar had approached the party seeking its support. Asked if the Congress would field a Baramati candidate as a representative of the party alone or of the MVA as a whole, Mr. Sapkal said the alliance “dharma” was applicable to all the partners.