Sunetra Pawar likely to take oath as Maharashtra Deputy CM today 

NEW DELHI: There are indications that Sunetra Pawar, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and the wife of Ajit Pawar, will take oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Saturday. Currently a Rajya Sabha MP, Sunetra is expected to resign and contest the Assembly election from Baramati, Ajit Pawar’s constituency.

An NCP legislature party meeting will be held at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai at 2 pm, where Sunetra will be elected as the party leader. If the oath-taking takes place later in the evening, she will become the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Senior party leaders had reportedly urged Sunetra to take up the post of Deputy Chief Minister, which is due to the NCP. Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said she was the most suitable person for the position. NCP working president Praful Patel said there was no opposition within the party to the decision.

"The government will respect the decision taken by the NCP. The government, the BJP, and the NCP stand firmly with the Pawar family," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

NCP merger talks
Talks are also progressing in parallel on a possible merger between Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction and the NCP led by his uncle Sharad Pawar. There is a possibility that the merger could take place later this month after the district panchayat elections.

Sources say that during meetings held in December and January between Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar, there was an understanding to officially announce the merger at a joint press conference after the local body elections. Follow-up discussions are currently underway. However, some leaders in Ajit Pawar’s faction are opposed to an immediate merger. In this context, Sunetra Pawar’s stance is expected to be crucial.