Kumar Bahukhandi
Sunetra Pawar takes oath as deputy CM – PTI Photo
Mumbai, Jan 30 (IANS) Sunetra Ajit Pawar, affectionately known as Vahini, is set to start a new innings after she will become the NCP legislature party leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister to succeed her husband Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash in Baramati.
MUMBAI: Sunetra Pawar, 62, the wife of late NCP chief Ajit Pawar, was on Saturday January 31, 2026 sworn in as Maharashtra’s first woman deputy Chief Minister at a ceremony in Mumbai.
Following her husband, deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s death in an air crash in Baramati on January 28, the Nationalist Congress Party, a constituent of the Mahayuti government, elected her as the leader of its legislature wing.
A letter to that effect was submitted to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who forwarded it to Governor Acharya Devvrat.
Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra on Saturday, three days after the death of her husband and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
She is taking oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of the state later in the day.
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.
She was elected during a meeting of the party’s legislature wing, held at the office of late Ajit Pawar on the ground floor of the Vidhan Bhavan complex in south Mumbai.
Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra on Saturday January 31, 2026 , three days after the death of her husband and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
She is taking oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of the state later in the
05:09:42 PM IST, 31 Jan 2026
Sunetra Pawar takes oath as Deputy CM of Maharashtra
Sunetra Pawar, leader of the NCP legislative party and wife of late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, takes oath as Deputy CM of Maharashtra at the Lok Bhavan
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and other leaders present.
05:05:16 PM IST, 31 Jan 2026
CM Devendra Fadnavis reaches Lok Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony of Sunetra Pawar
