Sunetra Pawar likely to fill late husband’s Dy CM role

Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar is likely to be sworn-in as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday, replacing her late husband Ajit Pawar in the cabinet, said NCP Sources on Friday, signalling the party’s continuation in ruling Mahayuti and delaying merger talks.She would be the first woman to hold the post of Deputy CM in the State, where the position was first created in 1978 when the coalition Government era began in Maharashtra.

Following the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash in Baramati on Wednesday, a section of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders had demanded that she be given the post held by her late husband in the Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet.Her consent to accept the decision to name her as her husband’s successor has been communicated to party leaders, said the sources.

“Tomorrow (Saturday), a parliamentary board meeting of the party will take place in Mumbai, where Sunetra Pawar will be elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party,” said a source. “It is likely that she will be sworn-in as Deputy Chief Minister by tomorrow evening,” said the source privy to the developments.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP, which heads the ruling alliance Mahayuti, would support any decision taken by the family and party of late Ajit Pawar.“The NCP will take whatever decision it has to take for the post of deputy chief minister, and the Government and the BJP will support the decision. I can only tell you that we are standing behind the family of Ajit Dada and the NCP,” the CM added.

Until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar had kept a low profile. In the general elections that year, she stood from Baramati as the candidate of her husband’s party, but was defeated by her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule in the prestige battle.Sunetra Pawar was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.The NCP’s legislature wing will hold a meeting in Mumbai on January 31 where she would be named as its leader, state minister and senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal said earlier in the day in Mumbai.

Fadnavis had conveyed that he had no issue with the swearing-in ceremony taking place on Saturday itself, provided a decision to that effect (Sunetra Pawar elected as new NCP legislature wing leader) Was taken by the party, stated Bhujbal.“Many leaders want her to become the deputy CM,” Bhujbal told reporters.

The NCP’s tally in the 288-member assembly came down to 40 with Ajit Pawar’s death. The late leader was the MLA from the Baramati assembly seat in Pune district.Meanwhile, with fast-paced political developments in the NCP, the issue of possible merger between the party and its rival faction NCP (SP), a constituent of the Opposition grouping MVA, is likely to be put on the backburner for now.

NCP leaders insisted priority now was to fill the vacant posts of legislature party leader and Deputy Chief Minister, both held by late Ajit Pawar.The ball is now in the court of the Pawar family and the NCP to take a call on the reunification of the two groups, they said.

“A merger is the need of the hour to build a strong NCP and provide an effective political alternative. Talks had reached an advanced stage, but in Ajit Pawar’s absence, the question now is who will take the final decision,” a senior NCP (SP) leader said.Besides the BJP and NCP, the Mahayuti also includes Shiv Sena.

Talking to reporters at the NCP office, Bhujbal said CM Fadnavis has conveyed that he has no issues if her oath-taking ceremony as the deputy CM takes place on Saturday itself provided a decision to that effect is taken by the legislature wing of the party. “The legislature party meeting of the NCP will be convened on Saturday, where Sunetra Pawar will be named as its leader. Many leaders want her to become the deputy CM,” Bhujbal said. Sunetra Pawar is currently a Rajya Sabha MP and not a member of either houses of the Maharashtra legislature.

The timeline for NCP reunification had been meticulously planned by Ajit Pawar before his fatal plane crash after having tested the waters by contesting the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls as a joint force.The Ajit Pawar-led NCP holds 40 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly (excluding the deceased leader’s own seat of Baramati, now vacant), while the Sharad Pawar faction has 10. The alliance at present has a strength of 235 MLAs including the NCP in the 288-member House.