Sunetra Pawar, wife of late Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, has reportedly agreed to take over as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra after accepting the party’s offer for the post. If sworn in, she will become the first woman to hold the position of Deputy Chief Minister in the state.
According to reports, the NCP has called a meeting of its legislative party on Saturday at 11 am. This will be followed by a meeting of NCP MLAs at Vidhan Bhavan at 2 pm to formally elect the party’s legislative leader. Sunetra Pawar is expected to be unanimously chosen during the meeting, paving the way for her induction into the state cabinet.
Following her election as the legislative party leader, Sunetra Pawar is likely to take oath as Deputy Chief Minister later in the evening. Preparations for the swearing-in ceremony are reportedly underway.
Earlier in the day, senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the proposed oath-taking and related formalities. Speaking to the media, Bhujbal said the Chief Minister had no objection to conducting the ceremony, though certain customary considerations following a death were also being taken into account. He added that senior leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel were providing their inputs, and a final decision was expected within a few hours.
Ajit Pawar, who was serving as Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, reportedly died in a plane crash in Baramati on Wednesday, along with four others. Following his death, questions over the future leadership of the NCP and its role in the state government had come into focus.
