Sunetra Pawar, the wife of late NCP chief and Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar, on Saturday took oath as the state’s first woman deputy chief minister, replacing her deceased husband. Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy in a low-key ceremony at Lok Bhavan.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, and NCP leaders, including Prafull Patel and others, attended the ceremony. Sunetra paid tributes to a portrait of her husband before taking the oath.
#WATCH | Mumbai: NCP leaders chant ‘Ajit dada amar rahe’ as Sunetra Pawar, leader of the NCP legislative party and wife of late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, takes oath as Deputy CM of Maharashtra at the Lok Bhavan pic.twitter.com/RU1cUXTbld
— ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026
The development comes just days after the sudden demise of Ajit Pawar in a plane crash. Pawar, who was the deputy CM of Maharashtra, died on Wednesday morning along with four others after his charter plane crashed while landing at Baramati airport.
Earlier today, Sunetra was elected the leader of the NCP legislative party following the legislative party meeting at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai. NCP leaders, including Party Working President Praful Patel and State President Sunil Tatkare, proposed Sunetra Pawar’s name for the post, and she was elected unanimously.
Sunetra currently holds the post of Rajya Sabha MP. She will be required to relinquish the post and become a member of either the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly or the Maharashtra Legislative Council within six months.
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According to the reports, the post of Rajya Sabha MP that she will vacate may go to one of her sons, Parth and Jay Pawar.
Ajit Pawar had held four portfolios- Finance and Planning, State Excise, Sports, and Minority Affairs. However, Sunetra will only get three of them as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to keep Finance and Planning, the reports said.
Fadnavis is also expected to present the state budget in the Assembly next month.
Ajit Pawar’s demise pushes NCP merger talks into uncertainty
The untimely demise of Ajit Pawar has pushed the NCP merger talks into uncertainty. According to NCP-Sharad Pawar faction leaders, Ajit Pawar was in talks with his uncle Sharad Pawar as he wanted to merge both parties. A decision had reportedly been taken, with a final announcement scheduled for February 12, but Ajit Pawar’s demise has put the process on hold.
NCP and NCP (SCP) contested the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections in an alliance, and there were talks of an alliance for the upcoming Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls.
Amid speculation, Sharad Pawar today clarified that while the talks were underway, he was not directly involved in the negotiations, which were led by NCP chief Ajit Pawar and NCP(SP) leader Jayant Patil.
When asked whether he would consider joining the NDA if both factions of the NCP merge, Sharad Pawar told reporters, “This is all going on your side (media), there is nothing like that here.”
“It was Ajit Dada’s wish that both NCPs should come together, and it was our wish as well,” the senior Pawar added.