BJP Mastermind Behind Sunetra Pawar’s Deputy CM Oath: Sena UBT

The Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday alleged the BJP leadership was the "mastermind" behind NCP leader Sunetra Pawar taking oath as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister, only days after her husband Ajit Pawar's passing.

The Nationalist Congress Party leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel, as well as the BJP leadership, are accused of opposing the unity of the two NCP factions in an editorial published in the Sena (UBT)  mouthpiece "Saamana."

Just three days after NCP leader Ajit Pawar and four others perished in an aviation disaster at Baramati in Pune district, Sunetra Pawar took the oath of office as the state's first female deputy chief minister on Saturday. The speed at which the development occurred has drawn criticism from some quarters.

Ajit Pawar's uncle and rival NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar asserted on Saturday that he had "no idea" of her swearing-in.

The question before Maharashtra, according to the editorial in "Saamana," is whose wish Sunetra Pawar took the oath of office as deputy chief minister, as neither NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar nor its working president Supriya Sule, nor members of the Pawar family, were aware of this. It stated that Sunetra Pawar did not even indicate that she was travelling from Baramati to Mumbai to take the oath of office as deputy chief minister.

"The BJP leadership is the mastermind behind this politics," the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) claimed.

"The complications have increased in the Pawar family and Maharashtra politics after the death of Ajit Pawar. Many desire that these issues not get sorted out," it added.

After Ajit Pawar's death, some in the NCP became more ambitious, and there was a race to take charge as the deputy CM within the party. There are differences between Patel and Tatkare. Sunetra Pawar was "installed" as deputy CM because the party of "Patil-Pawar" should not go to Patel, the editorial claimed.

Sunetra Pawar was made to steer the ship, but its engine and control are with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. It said that Sunetra Pawar and the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, might both survive at Fadnavis' mercy.

The editorial further said Sunetra Pawar's deputy CM post should not be a mere ornamental post. It suggested that she might not be a "gungi gudiya" (silent doll) and function well.

Sunetra Pawar taking an oath even before her husband's post-last rites procedures are finished does not align with Hindutva views, according to the NCP, which is allied with the "sanatani-minded" BJP.