Sunetra Pawar takes oath as Maharashtra’s Deputy CM
Soon after Sunetra Pawar, wife of deceased NCP president Ajit Pawar, was on Saturday sworn in as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the bonhomie presented in recent days by both the NCP factions including one led by patriarch Sharad Pawar developed a ‘crack’ as the latter remarked the process to merge the NCP (SP) and NCP may now face a roadblock due to the death of Ajit Pawar.
Ruing the fact that he got to know from the media that Sunetra was being appointed as Deputy CM of the State, Sharad Pawar said the process to merge the two factions was underway for the past four months under Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil, but now it will be difficult.
“All discussions were held at their level, but it now appears the process may hit a roadblock following the (plane) accident. The talks were progressing in a positive direction, but the accident adversely affected the process,” the former Union Minister said. Efforts were being made to establish cordial dialogue between the two factions, he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended his best wishes to Sunetra Pawar, who became the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. “Best wishes to Sunetra Pawar Ji as she begins her tenure as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the first woman to hold this responsibility,” Modi said in a social media post.
“I am confident she will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people of the State and fulfill the vision of the late Ajit dada Pawar,” the PM said. The 62-year-old Sunetra Pawar, who has resigned as Rajya Sabha MP, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a brief ceremony at the Lok Bhavan.
Earlier in the day, she was elected as the State NCP legislature party leader. She now faces an uphill task of holding the NCP together and managing coalition politics while working with the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. But her immediate challenge will be to decide whether to go ahead with the much-anticipated merger of the two NCP factions.
