MUMBAI: The Nationalist Congress Party has decided to replace the late Ajit Pawar with his partner, Sunetra Pawar, as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The party’s legislators will meet in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon to elect her as the leader of the legislature party. Her swearing-in is at Raj Bhavan that evening, at 5pm.
On Friday, NCP working president Praful Patel, state president Sunil Tatkare, minister Chhagan Bhujbal and former minister Dhananjay Munde met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and conveyed that Sunetra Pawar would be elected leader and retain all key portfolios earlier held by Ajit Pawar, including finance, excise and sports.
Following her election, she is expected to stake a claim for the DCM post, with a swearing-in ceremony likely at Raj Bhavan the same evening. Senior BJP leaders said the alliance would support a smooth transition. A source said on Friday, the party leaders phoned the NCP MLAs and sought their opinions on the successor to Ajit Pawar.
After the meeting, Tatkare said the party was in deep mourning and consultations with the Pawar family would precede further decisions. Party leaders said MLAs were contacted to seek their views, while sources indicated that Sunetra Pawar and her sons, Parth and Jay Pawar, may attend the meeting.
NCP MLC Sanjay Khodake has written to the secretary of the Legislative Assembly, reserving Hall Number 26, seating 50 people, at Vidhan Bhavan to convene the meeting. It will take place at 2 pm on Saturday.
Meanwhile, uncertainty persists over a possible merger between the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction and the Ajit Pawar group. Leaders from the Sharad Pawar camp have argued that unity would be a true tribute to Ajit Pawar.
NCP state president Shashikant Shinde said that merger talks were expected after the local body elections, and that Ajit Pawar had personally led these discussions.