Sunetra Pawar to be state’s first woman deputy CM, swearing-in today

Appointed to the Rajya Sabha after she unsuccessfully fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra is expected to be elected leader of the NCP’s legislature party on Saturday

MUMBAI: Sunetra Pawar will become Maharashtra’s first woman deputy chief minister, taking over the position from her late husband, NCP chief Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash on Wednesday.

Former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar pays condolences to the family of late Maharashtra DCM Ajit Pawar, in Baramati on Friday. (@mahancpspeaks X)

Appointed to the Rajya Sabha after she unsuccessfully fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra is expected to be elected leader of the NCP’s legislature party on Saturday. She will be sworn in as deputy chief minister immediately thereafter.

Party insiders said Sunetra expressed her willingness to step into her deceased husband’s shoes on Friday, after Ajit Pawar was cremated with full state honours in Baramati.

Senior party leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dhananjay Munde met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and conveyed the party’s decision to him on Friday.

The NCP’s 40 legislators will meet at Vidhan Bhavan at 2 pm on Saturday, to elect Sunetra as legislature party leader. She will then be sworn in at a low-key function at Lok Bhavan at 5pm.

Fadnavis told the media later, “We will support the decision taken by the NCP and Ajit Pawar’s family. As the government and as a party, we stand by them and the Pawar family.” He added, “NCP leaders met me twice and discussed the options before them.”

Food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal said, “During our meeting with the CM, we enquired about his availability (for the swearing-in) and he said he is available on Saturday. The swearing-in after the election of the CLP could take place tomorrow itself.”

After the NCP leaders met Fadnavis on Friday, the party’s political strategist, Naresh Arora, met Sunetra, and her sons Parth and Jay in Baramati and discussed details of the oath-taking ceremony with them. The NCP office then contacted party legislators, instructing them to attend the legislature party meeting at Vidhan Bhavan.

Significantly, Sunetra took the decision on her election as legislature party leader even before a meeting of the Pawar family was held. A senior NCP (SP) leader said Sunetra or other senior leaders of her party did not have any discussions with Sharad Pawar on Friday in connection with her accepting the post of deputy chief minister. “It’s possible that she or someone on her behalf had spoken with Pawar senior but there was no meeting as such,” he added.

Sunetra left for Mumbai with her sons late on Friday. No one from Sharad Pawar’s family accompanied her. There were unconfirmed reports that Sharad Pawar had a closed-door meeting with Supriya Sule, NCP (SP) working president, and party MLA Rohit Pawar around the same time.

Meanwhile, a senior NCP minister said a power struggle between leaders of the two NCP factions on the issue of the proposed merger has already begun.

“There are a few leaders in our party who are opposing the merger. The Pawar faction is pushing for it, with its leaders like Jayant Patil, Ankush Kakade and Shashaikant Shinde publicly saying that Ajit Pawar had held discussions with them on merging the two factions in February. Following their statements to the media, legislators began speaking in favour of a merger,” he said.

“Against this backdrop, a swift decision was taken to elect the leader of the NCP’s legislature party. It was decided that any discussion about a merger and who could be the party’s chief would be taken later,” the minister added.

Significantly, Vikas Lavande, spokesperson for the NCP (SP), slammed NCP leaders for rushing to fill Ajit Pawar’s shoes just two days after his death. “When we went to collect Ajitdada’s ashes today, Pawarsaheb and family members were there. There was no leader from the NCP. They were busy with issues of power such as selection of a new deputy chief minister. It seems they did not want to wait even till the rituals were over.”

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar’s ashes were immersed at the confluence of the Neera and Karha rivers near Baramati by his sons Parth and Jay on Friday. Sunetra Pawar, her sister-in-law, MP and working president of the NCP (SP) Supriya Sule, and other family members were present.

Sharad Pawar indicated that he wanted to play an active role in Baramati as he visited a village in the tehsil where villagers have been complaining of contaminated water.