Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar, wife of late Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar, was unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra on Saturday during a meeting held at Ajit Pawar’s office, three days after his death.
She is set to take oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of the state later in the day, confirmed the Lok Bhavan, adding that the swearing-in ceremony will be held at 5 pm in Mumbai.
Sunetra Pawar’s name as the NCP’s legislature party leader was proposed by senior leader, Dilip Walse Patil, and seconded by Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Chhagan Bhujbal.
Also Read: Sunetra Pawar to be sworn in as Maharashtra’s 1st woman Dy CM
At the ground floor office of the Vidhan Bhavan complex in south Mumbai, Sunetra, who was accompanied by younger son, Jay, paid floral tributes to a portrait of her late husband in the meeting hall. Many ministers and legislators were teary-eyed when they entered the Vidhan Bhavan complex.
Ajit Pawar, who was deputy chief minister and finance minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government, was killed in a plane crash in Baramati along with four others on January 28.
Sunetra Pawar had kept a low profile until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when she contested from Baramati as the candidate of her husband’s party. She lost to her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule in the prestige battle. Sunetra was then elected to the Rajya Sabha.
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