'NCP-SP, Pawar family totally in the dark on Sunetra's cabinet entry'

Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar, who is likely to be sworn in as Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister, replacing her deceased husband and Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar in the state cabinet, left for Mumbai on Friday evening, sources said.

While the talk of the imminent merger of the two NCP factions was gaining ground following Ajit Pawar's death in an air crash on Wednesday, the leaders of the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar or Sharad Pawar's family were not privy to her decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti government, sources said.

"The NCP-SP leadership and Sharad Pawar's family members were completely in the dark about her plans," a source added.

Sunetra Pawar, who is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature, will be elected as leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday, after which she is likely to take oath as deputy CM.

Sunetra, who made her debut in electoral politics in 2024, would be the first woman to hold the post of deputy CM in the state.

Meanwhile, Sunetra Pawar has reached Mumbai on Saturday.

She reached Devgiri, the official residence of her late husband in south Mumbai, in the wee hours, accompanied by son Parth.

The 62-year-old leader, who is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature, will be elected as leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon, and is all set to take oath as Maharashtra's first woman deputy CM. 

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP, which heads the ruling alliance Mahayuti, would support any decision taken by the family and party of late Ajit Pawar.

"The NCP will take whatever decision it has to take for the post of deputy chief minister, and we will support the decision. We are standing behind the family of Ajit Dada and the NCP," the CM told reporters in Nagpur on Friday.

Until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar had kept a low profile. In the Lok Sabha elections that year, she contested from Baramati as the candidate of her husband's party, but was defeated by her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule in the prestige battle.

Sunetra Pawar was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.

The NCP's legislature wing will hold a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon where she would be named as its leader, state minister and senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal said.