Baramati Returning Officer Clears Ajit Pawar on “Fund for Vote” Remark

Baramati Returning Officer Kavita Dwivedi submitted a report to the Chief Election Officer of Maharashtra stating that there was no prima facie violation of the code of conduct in Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s “Fund for Vote” remark. The complaint was filed by the NCP (SCP) after Pawar’s statement during a public meeting in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency.

However, after reviewing the video footage of the event, Dwivedi found no evidence of a code of conduct violation. Pawar had said, “press button,” but did not specify any candidate’s name for the vote, which led to the clean chit. Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, is contesting from the Baramati seat against sitting MP and her sister-in-law, Supriya Sule.