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Sunetra Pawar is guardian minister of Pune and Beed
Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has been appointed guardian minister of Pune and Beed districts, filling the vacancy created after the death of senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar
Pune: Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has been appointed guardian minister of Pune and Beed districts, filling the vacancy created after the death of senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar. The order of her appointment came on Tuesday, days after the death of her husband and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in Baramati in Pune district on January 28.
The post of Pune district guardian minister holds particular political and administrative significance for the Pawar family. Ajit Pawar, for whom Pune was the home district, ensured that the portfolio remained with him for over two decades. The guardian minister heads key district-level committees and exercises considerable administrative authority in the district, with senior officials, including the district collector, police commissioner and other IAS officers, expected to act on the minister’s directions.
Ajit Pawar regularly chaired review meetings, usually on Saturdays, at the council hall and circuit house in Pune. Following his death, the NCP leadership was keen that the influential Pune guardian minister’s post remain with Sunetra Pawar.
In Beed district, the guardian minister’s post was earlier held by Dhananjay Munde. However, after allegations were levelled against him, Munde stepped down from the ministry, following which Ajit Pawar himself took charge of Beed district and retained the guardian minister’s portfolio.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has now cleared Sunetra Pawar’s appointment as guardian minister for both Pune and Beed districts.
Except for brief periods when the late Girish Bapat and BJP leader Chandrakant Patil held the position, Ajit Pawar remained the Pune district guardian minister for most of the past two decades.
Reacting to the appointment, NCP state president Sunil Tatkare, in a post on X addressed to Sunetra Pawar, said the passing of Ajit Pawar had plunged the entire state into grief and left both Pune and Beed districts feeling leaderless. “After Dada’s demise, you took on the responsibility of deputy chief minister and provided stability to Maharashtra. Going a step further, you have now accepted the responsibility of guiding Pune and Beed districts. Setting aside a grief as vast as the sky, the courage you have shown to steady Maharashtra is beyond words,” Tatkare said.
