Sunetra Pawar takes oath as Maharashtra's first deputy CM

Sunetra Pawar, wife of former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, was sworn in on Saturday at 5 pm as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai.

On Saturday morning, Sunetra Pawar, who is currently a Rajya Sabha member, was unanimously elected leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislative party at a meeting held at the Vidhan Bhavan. The meeting was attended by all NCP MLAs and MLCs.

According to reports, Sunetra Pawar is expected to vacate her Rajya Sabha seat following her induction into the state cabinet. The vacant seat may be allotted to one of her sons, Parth Pawar or Jay Pawar.

Ajit Pawar, who passed away recently, had held key portfolios including Finance and Planning, State Excise, Sports, and Minority Affairs. However, reports suggest that Sunetra Pawar will be assigned only three of these departments, as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to retain the Finance and Planning portfolio. Fadnavis is also expected to present the state budget in the Assembly next month.

Meanwhile, the sudden demise of Ajit Pawar has cast uncertainty over ongoing talks to merge the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party. Leaders from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SCP) faction said Ajit Pawar had been in discussions with his uncle Sharad Pawar with the aim of reuniting the party. A final announcement on the merger was reportedly scheduled for February 12, but the process has now been put on hold.

Addressing the speculation, Sharad Pawar reported that while discussions were underway, he was not directly involved in the negotiations. “The talks were being led by NCP chief Ajit Pawar and NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil,” he told a news agency.

When asked whether he would consider joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if the two NCP factions were to merge, Sharad Pawar dismissed the speculation. “This is all happening on your side,” he said, referring to media reports. “There is nothing like that here.”

He added that unifying the two factions had been Ajit Pawar’s wish as well as that of the party leadership.