Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra set to be Maharashtra’s Deputy CM
Formal announcement expected after NCP Legislature Party meets on Saturday. Decision comes hours after a delegation of NCP leaders meets CM Devendra Fadnavis
The NCP legislative party is likely to be convened within a day or two to finalise its choice for the Deputy CM’s post, with Sunetra Pawar’s name expected to be proposed. (Express Photo) Ajit Pawar’s wife and Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar is set to succeed her late husband as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday, becoming the first woman to hold the post. Sunetra will be appointed the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Legislature Party leader at 2 pm and will be sworn in as Deputy CM later in the evening, sources in the party said.
The decision came hours after NCP began formal consultations with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on filling the Deputy CM post, even as the BJP indicated it would leave the decision to its alliance partner while maintaining the existing balance within the ruling government. A delegation comprising Rajya Sabha MP and NCP working president Praful Patel, state party chief and Lok Sabha MP Sunil Tatkare, Food and Civil Supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal and MLA Dhananjay Munde met Fadnavis at his official residence Varsha to discuss the way forward.
When asked about Sunetra Pawar’s name as the next Deputy CM, senior NCP leader Praful Patel said, “We did not discuss Sunetra Pawar’s name with Fadnavis… that was an internal discussion of ours. It is our belief shared by the public and our MLAs that a proper decision must be made. We are still in a period of political mourning and family rituals are ongoing. We will speak with Sunetra Pawar tonight or tomorrow after the family ceremonies are concluded.”
Highly placed sources in the Chief Minister Office said the meeting was held to apprise Fadnavis of the NCP internal deliberations.
After the interaction, the Chief Minister is learnt to have told them “to take a final decision and revert on all aspects related to representation in the government post Ajit Pawar’s demise,” a source said.
A senior BJP functionary said the party would not seek to alter the coalition arrangement. “Keeping coalition politics in mind, any likely change in the composition of the cabinet between BJP and its alliance partner NCP is ruled out,” the leader said, adding that the BJP would expect the NCP to recommend “a suitable candidate who is non-controversial and conforms to the existing parameters necessary for becoming the minister in the Cabinet.”
BJP leaders said decisions would be taken in consultation with the NCP, but the final call on leadership would rest with the latter.
“Although BJP is the single largest party with 137 MLAs including five associates out of 288, they will continue to honour the commitment to its alliance partners Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and NCP in Maharashtra and Centre,” a BJP leader said.
The leadership vacuum comes amid shifting equations within the ruling coalition which comprises the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the NCP faction once led by Ajit Pawar.
Fadnavis was sworn in as CM on December 5 2024, along with Shinde and Ajit Pawar as Deputy Chief Ministers, followed by a cabinet expansion later that month.
At present, the BJP holds 20 ministerial positions including the Chief Minister; Shiv Sena has 12 including Shinde; while the NCP strength has fallen to eight after the removal of Manikrao Kokate and the death of Ajit Pawar.
Of the sanctioned strength of 43 ministers in Maharashtra, one berth remains vacant.
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