Sunetra Pawar sworn in as Maharashtra deputy CM, rift in family widens

Sunetra Pawar was elected leader of the NCP’s legislative wing at a meeting attended by 38 of the party’s 40 MLAs and seven of its eight MLCs.

Mumbai: Three days after Maharashtra deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash, his widow Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as the state’s first woman deputy chief minister on Saturday evening, even as the move deepened political and personal fault lines within the Pawar family.

NCP Leader Sunetra Pawar takes oath as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra in the presence of Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

The decision to elevate Sunetra Pawar has sharpened the rift between the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), with family patriarch Sharad Pawar saying he was neither informed nor consulted about the swearing-in.

Earlier in the day, Sunetra Pawar was elected leader of the NCP’s legislative wing at a meeting attended by 38 of the party’s 40 MLAs and seven of its eight MLCs, underscoring the Ajit Pawar faction’s numerical strength. Within hours, she was sworn in as deputy chief minister at Lok Bhavan in a ceremony attended by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and senior leaders of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance.

Soon after taking the oath, Sunetra Pawar was allocated three portfolios—excise duty, minority affairs, and sports and youth welfare. The finance department, which Ajit Pawar held for nine years and was the most important portfolio with the NCP, will remain with the chief minister for now.

The allocation of portfolios has become a bone of contention between the NCP and the BJP, as chief minister Fadnavis was reluctant to hand the finance department to Sunetra Pawar, citing her lack of ministerial experience, according to people aware of the developments. The BJP asked the NCP to suggest another name who is capable enough to take the position and is not eager to share one of the most crucial portfolios in the absence of Ajit Pawar, who also headed the party.

The NCP, however, argued that losing the finance portfolio would lead to an inequitable distribution of power. “The BJP has the home department apart from the CM position; the Shiv Sena has the urban development department; if NCP did not get back the finance department, then the distribution of power between the three parties will not remain equal,” said a senior NCP leader.

Sunetra, already a Rajya Sabha member, succeeds her late husband, Ajit Pawar, who died in a tragic plane crash in Baramati on January 28. With this, it has also been confirmed that she will contest the by-election from the Baramati assembly constituency and carry forward her husband’s legacy. According to the rules, she can continue as a Rajya Sabha member until she is elected to another House, such as the Maharashtra Assembly.

Maharashtra governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath to Sunetra Pawar on Saturday evening. The ceremony concluded amid slogans of “Ajit dada amar rahe” (Long live Ajit dada) and “Vahini saheb age badho, hum tumhare saath hain” (Sister-in-law move forward, we are with you). Her younger son, Jay, was present at the event.

“Today, as I carry forward the legacy of respected Ajit Dada’s thoughts and accept the responsibility of the post of deputy chief minister with a sense of duty, remaining faithful to the ideals of Shiv–Shahu–Phule–Ambedkar, my heart is truly overwhelmed,” she wrote in a post on X.

“Although his untimely passing has left a mountain of sorrow upon my heart, the values he taught, dedication to duty, the strength to struggle and an unwavering commitment to the people, are my true source of strength. I will continue to work with complete honesty and dedication to realize his dream of a just, egalitarian, and developed Maharashtra,” she added.

However, her elevation was marred with controversy, with no member of the Pawar family attending the swearing-in. Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s uncle and political mentor, said neither he nor other family members were informed or invited. In an apparent attempt at damage control, Ajit Pawar’s elder son, Parth, visited Sharad Pawar at his Baramati residence, Govindbaug, and met him, Supriya Sule and other family members.

“We didn’t know about the swearing-in. We found out about it through news reports,” Pawar told reporters earlier on Saturday. “There was no discussion with me. Her party may have taken a decision internally,” he added.

Sharad Pawar also questioned the haste with which the NCP legislators’ meeting was convened, claiming that Ajit Pawar and NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil had finalised plans to merge the two factions and had decided to announce it on February 12.

NCP working president Praful Patel declined to comment on the matter. Responding to allegations that Sunetra is being made deputy CM in haste, Maharashtra NCP chief Sunil Tatkare said, “The decision was taken by us collectively considering the sentiments in the party and among the people.”

Earlier, on Saturday afternoon, Sunetra Pawar arrived at the Vidhan Bhavan complex with her younger son, Jay Pawar, and paid floral tributes to a portrait of her husband before the legislative party meeting began in the chamber used by Ajit Pawar. Her name was proposed by senior NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal and seconded by several senior party leaders, including Dilip Walse Patil and Hasan Mushrif.

Apart from top NCP leaders, the meeting was attended by 38 of the NCP’s 40 MLAs, and seven of its eight members MLCs. Two MLAs, Dharamraobaba Atram and Daulat Daroda, were unable to attend the meeting—Atram is abroad, while Daroda’s nephew died on January 30. One MLC, Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, also missed the meeting due to illness.

Addressing the legislators, Tatkare justified their decision to have Sunetra elected as deputy chief minister within days of Ajit Pawar’s death. “We need stability, for which someone from the Pawar family will have to take up the responsibility. In the absence of Ajit dada, what will we say to the people as to who is the face of the party? Hence, an immediate decision was necessary. Dada’s desire was to strengthen the party, and we will strive to fulfil his dream,” Tatkare is said to have told the legislators.

Sunetra Pawar had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Baramati, the Pawar family bastion. She lost to her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule. She later entered the Rajya Sabha in June 2024.