Pune, Maharashtra (October 29, 2024): Abhijit Bichukale on Tuesday has filed his nomination as an independent from the Baramati seat candidate for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. Bichukale, known for his appearances on Bigg Boss 15 and Bigg Boss Marathi has previously contested elections in various constituencies throughout the state, is now seeking to make his mark in Baramati.
Earlier this year, Bichukale contested the Lok Sabha elections from Satara, where he received only 1,395 votes, falling short by 569,739 votes behind the winner, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He also contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Satara, the 2019 Assembly elections from Worli, and the Kasba Assembly bypoll in 2023, but he has yet to achieve electoral success.
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The primary contest is set to unfold between Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his nephew Yugendra Pawar, who has been fielded by the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) . The Baramati constituency has seen significant political battles, including the recent Lok Sabha elections where Ajit Pawar's wife, Sunetra Pawar, competed against Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar. Sule won that contest by a margin of 150,000 votes.
On Monday, NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar filed his nomination from the Baramati seat. Pawar arrived at the tehsil office in Pune accompanied by a large crowd of supporters, who held a rally as a show of strength. His two sons, Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar, along with several party leaders, were also present.
Yugendra, who filed his nomination earlier in the day without much fanfare, was accompanied by his uncle, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, and the latter’s daughter, Supriya Sule, the sitting Lok Sabha member from Baramati.
Both the ruling Mahayuti alliance, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — comprising Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress — are intensifying efforts to secure victory.
Voting for the Maharashtra assembly elections will take place on November 20 and results to be declared on November 23.