Sunetra Pawar is likely to take oath as Maharashtra deputy chief minister after Ajit Pawar’s death in an air crash.
NCP (SP) leaders and Sharad Pawar’s family were not informed of her decision to join the Mahayuti government.
She would become the first woman deputy chief minister of Maharashtra if sworn in.
Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, is set to enter the Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister following the death of her husband and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar, and left for Mumbai on Friday evening ahead of key political developments, according to PTI.
Sources told PTI that Sunetra Pawar is likely to be sworn in as deputy chief minister, replacing Ajit Pawar in the state cabinet after he was killed in an air crash on Wednesday. The move comes amid growing speculation about a possible merger of the two factions of the NCP, PTI reported.
However, leaders of the NCP (SP) as well as members of Sharad Pawar’s family were not informed about Sunetra Pawar’s decision to join the BJP-led Mahayuti government, sources said. “The NCP (SP) leadership and Sharad Pawar’s family members were completely in the dark about her plans,” a source told PTI.
Sunetra Pawar, who is not currently a member of either House of the Maharashtra legislature, is expected to be elected leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday. Following this, she is likely to take oath as deputy chief minister, according to PTI.
She made her debut in electoral politics in 2024 and, once sworn in, would become the first woman to hold the post of deputy chief minister in Maharashtra.
(With inputs from (PTI)
