Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, has been appointed as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, marking a new chapter for the NCP and presenting her with the challenge of leading the party.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday said he was satisfied with the development work he had carried out as a legislator, adding that people of Baramati for once must get an MLA other than him so that they could make comparisons.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has accused the BJP leadership of being the mastermind behind Sunetra Pawar's appointment as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister, alleging that certain NCP leaders also desire to prevent the unification of the two NCP factions.
'While many politicians speak of development, Dada worked hard for it.' 'He realised that politics wasn't about power or politics -- it was about service to the people.'
While the deputy CM led a massive nomination rally and waved to the crowds from an open vehicle, the process for Yugendra Pawar was low-key, with just NCP-SP supremo Sharad Pawar and Baramati MP Supriya Sule for company apart from a few supporters.
Five months after a couple of Pawars jousted in an electoral battle in Baramati, two other Pawars will take on each other at the hustings on November 20, 2024.
The mortal remains of pilot Shambhavi Pathak, who died in a plane crash near Baramati, Maharashtra, were brought to her Delhi residence. The community mourned the loss of the young and dedicated pilot.
'Deeply shocked and terribly heartbroken to learn that we have lost Ajit Dada in a tragic accident.'
Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, has been unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra and is set to become the state's first woman Deputy Chief Minister.
Popularly known as 'Ajit Dada', he was known to say things as they were, without couching it in any soft padding.
Two months after the death of Ajit Pawar, leaders within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are advocating for a merger with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), amidst internal disputes and banner controversies.
The senior Pawar, however, said that the entire family campaigns during elections.
The process to merge the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar and the Nationalist Congress Party may now face a roadblock due to the death of Ajit Pawar, said Sharad Pawar on Saturday.
A technical snag was detected in a helicopter scheduled to transport Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde for campaigning, delaying her journey. The issue was discovered during a routine inspection, leading to the grounding of the helicopter and a DGCA investigation.
Voting for zilla parishads and panchayat samitis in Maharashtra has been rescheduled to February 7 due to a three-day mourning period declared after the death of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that the truth would not emerge through existing mechanisms and called for a probe, several opposition leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge backed her demand.
NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar has raised doubts about the circumstances surrounding the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash and plans to provide a detailed presentation on the matter.
'I don't know if she is doing it willingly or not, but she is respecting the sentiments of the party.'
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar has questioned whether VSR Ventures owner V K Singh is attempting to blame the pilot for the Learjet crash that killed Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others in January. Pawar cites media reports about Singh's purported submission to the CID, raising concerns about the investigation's transparency.
NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar has raised concerns about the statement given by VSR Ventures owner V K Singh to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) regarding the plane crash that killed former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others. Pawar questions whether Singh is attempting to blame the pilot for the accident.
Visuals from the spot showed mangled remains of the aircraft.
Newly-appointed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar pledges to carry forward the legacy and ideals of her late husband, Ajit Pawar, focusing on duty, struggle, and commitment to the people. She was sworn in as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Sunetra Pawar, widow of late Ajit Pawar, is set to be sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister, replacing her husband in the state cabinet. Her appointment follows a meeting of the NCP legislature wing where she is expected to be named as its leader.
A close associate of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar claims that Pawar was actively pursuing a merger of the two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions before his death. The associate, Kiran Gujar, stated that Pawar had indicated the merger was imminent just days before a fatal plane crash.
With Ajit Pawar's passing, the 40 MLAs who remain will now have to decide whether they want to continue in Mahayuti in the company of the BJP and Shiv Sena -- or return to the Sharad Pawar fold.
The respect for the four-time former chief minister, often referred to as Saheb, in his stronghold of western Maharashtra is palpable in much of the region. But his estranged nephew also appears to enjoy a stature of his own in Baramati, a constituency represented by the senior Pawar for six terms before he passed the baton to Ajit Pawar in 1991.
Ajit's uncle and NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, however, has urged people not to politicise the death of his nephew.
Ajit Pawar, who was the finance and planning minister, would have tabled his budget for 2026-27 next month when the state legislature's budget session begins in Mumbai on February 23.
The BJP stunned the Pawars in the Pune polls, clinching 119 seats. The NCP came a distant second with 27 seats, while its ally, NCP (SP) led by Sharad Pawar, won three. The Congress managed 15 seats.
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.
The talks about the reunification had already started when Ajit Pawar was alive. In fact, the two parties even contested the civic polls in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together.
'In any aviation emergency, the first rule is aviate -- fly the aircraft.' 'The fact that the commander's voice is not on the recording simply means he was focused entirely on flying. It does not imply anything more than that.'
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he did not request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a campaign rally in his Baramati constituency because the fight there is within the family.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others were killed after their aircraft crashed in Baramati on January 28, 2026. Here are 11 other prominent Indians who died in air crashes.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fatal air ambulance crash in Jharkhand that claimed seven lives, with authorities examining weather conditions and potential technical issues.
A Mumbai court has accepted the closure report submitted by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case, giving a clean chit to Ajit Pawar and other accused.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar Maharashtra unit president Shashikant Shinde on Saturday said his party chief Sharad Pawar and other leaders had no prior knowledge about the decision that Nationalist Congress Party's Sunetra Pawar would take oath as the state deputy chief minister.
The preliminary report on the plane crash that killed NCP leader Ajit Pawar is expected to be released by February 28, according to Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol. The incident has sparked speculation and calls for investigation into potential irregularities.
Newly-appointed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has been allocated the portfolios of State Excise Duty, Sports and Youth Affairs and Minorities Development and Aukaf.
Senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil has ruled out the possibility of a merger between the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party, stating that talks ceased following the death of Ajit Pawar.
