With the incumbent Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar preparing to be sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, chief Sharad Pawar (of the Nationalist Congress Party faction), said that he did not know about the development but instead heard about it in the press.
Addressing a press conference at Baramati on Saturday, Sharad Pawar was questioned whether he, or one of his family members would be present at the ceremony. He responded by indicating that he had no news on the swearing-in and had only heard it in the news.
We know not of the swearing-in. We heard about it in the news. I do not know about the swearing-in,” he replied to the reports.
Sharad Pawar proposed that other party leaders might have made the decision. The initiative was taken by some people like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare. He might have made up his mind on something, he added.
He also remembered that they had tried to bring the two sides of the NCP together, and this was what was desired by his late nephew Ajit Pawar. Negotiations regarding a merger between the two groups had been going on and a date was scheduled to do so on February 12.
The discussions regarding the merger of the two factions had been initiated by Ajit Pawar, Shashikant Shinde and Jayant Patil. The date of the merger had already been decided, it was to be on the 12th. Ajit only left us before that, unfortunately, said Sharad Pawar.
In the meantime, Sunetra Pawar arrived in Mumbai in the early hours of Saturday and is to assume office as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state, which has been left vacant after her husband Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash in January 28 in Baramati. She went to Devgiri, the official residence of the late Ajit Paw in south Mumbai, in the company of her son Parth.
At 62, Sunetra Pawar is not elected to either house of the Maharashtra legislature but is likely to be selected to lead the legislature wing of the NCP at a party meeting in Mumbai later in the day. It will pave the way to her taking the oath of office as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The sources indicated that there had been increased talk of a potential merger between the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) in the wake of Ajit Pawar death.
Nevertheless, those in the NCP (Sharad Pawar camp) and close family members of Sharad Pawar were said to be unaware of the fact that Sunetra Pawar had decided to join the BJP-led Mahayuti government. One party source said that The NCP (SP) leadership and the family members of Sharad Pawar had no idea whatsoever what she was planning.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis indicated that the ruling alliance would back whatever Ajit Pawar family and the party decided regarding the post of Deputy Chief Minister. The NCP will make whatever decision it pleases regarding the post of deputy chief minister and we shall aid the decision. We are in the family of Ajit Dada and the NCP, Fadnavis informed reporters in Nagpur on Friday.
Sunetra Pawar had mostly remained an inactive politician until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which she contested seats against her sister-in-law and fellow NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule in her constituency of Baramati. She was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.
The legislative wing of the party, headed by senior NCP leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal announced that the party would convene a meeting in Mumbai later in the afternoon on Saturday to officially designate her as the party leader.
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The naming will likely be a major step prior to her formal oathing as Deputy Chief Minister which may immediately follow the meeting.
The events have brought a new dimension to the political life in Maharashtra when the state is still grappling with change of leadership following the sudden death of Ajit Pawar. Observers note that the situation underscores the dynamics of change in the NCP and the ruling alliance at large.
