NCP minister calls for Sunetra Pawar to join Maha govt

2 Minutes ReadWatch on Rediff-TV Listen to Article
Share:

January 29, 2026 16:19 IST

x

Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration minister Narhari Zirwal on Thursday said that the public wants late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife, Sunetra Pawar, to be brought into the state ministry.

IMAGE: Union Home Minister Amit Shah offers his condolences to NCP Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar during the last rites of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in Baramati on Thursday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and others also present. Photograph: @AmitShah_X/ANI Photo

Key Points

  • NCP leader Narhari Zirwal says the public wants Sunetra Pawar to be included in the Maharashtra state ministry.
  • Sunetra Pawar is currently a Rajya Sabha member.
  • Zirwal stated that the NCP leadership will discuss the possibility of including Sunetra Pawar in the ministry.

Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state along with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Sunetra Pawar is currently a Rajya Sabha member.

Asked about the NCP's future after Ajit Pawar's death, Zirwal said that people want 'vahini' (sister-in-law, referring to Sunetra Pawar) to be included in the ministry.

"We will talk to the leadership about it and take a decision," Zirwal, who was a close confidant of Ajit Pawar, told a news channel after the leader's funeral in Baramati.

NCP factions are together: Minister

To a question on the merger of the two NCP groups, Zirwal said, "The two factions are already together. Everyone has realised that there is no point in remaining scattered and have to be together."

Ajit Pawar and four others were killed when the chartered plane carrying them crashed at Baramati in Pune district on Wednesday.

In July 2023, Ajit Pawar had joined the then Eknath Shinde-led state government, triggering a split in the NCP founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

 
Share: