Sunetra Pawar became Maharashtra’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister, succeeding late Ajit Pawar, at Lok Bhavan. She now faces key challenges in NCP unity and coalition politics.
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Sunetra Pawar, wife of late NCP leader Ajit Pawar, was on Saturday sworn in as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The 62-year-old leader, who recently resigned as a Rajya Sabha MP, took the oath of office and secrecy at a brief ceremony at Lok Bhavan, administered by Governor Acharya Devvrat. Earlier in the day, she was elected leader of the NCP legislature party.
Ajit Pawar, who served as Deputy Chief Minister and also held the finance portfolio in the BJP–Shiv Sena–NCP Mahayuti government, died in an air crash in Baramati on January 28. Slogans of “Ajit dada Amar Rahe” were raised as Sunetra Pawar stepped forward to take the oath. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and senior NCP leaders including Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and Chhagan Bhujbal were among those present. Her younger son Jay Pawar and his wife also attended the ceremony.
Meanwhile, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said he had no information about Sunetra Pawar’s swearing-in, claiming he learnt about it through media reports. “I have no information about it. Her party must have decided… I had no discussion on this,” he said in Baramati.
Sunetra Pawar is not currently a member of either House of the state legislature and is expected to contest the by-election from the Baramati assembly seat represented by her late husband. A first-time electoral entrant in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Baramati, she had lost to her sister-in-law and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, before being elected to the Rajya Sabha.
She now faces the challenge of keeping the NCP united and managing coalition dynamics with the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, even as speculation continues over a possible merger of the two NCP factions.
First Published: Jan 31, 2026 7:50 PM IST
