Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is set to step into her husband’s massive shoes after he died in a plane crash on Wednesday morning. The decision was taken by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Pawar family was not consulted, said Ajit Pawar’s uncle and NCP-SP Chief, Sharad Pawar.
When asked if he was sidelined from the process of deciding Ajit Pawar’s successor, Sharad Pawar said, “I don’t know.”
Senior Pawar’s remarks clearly indicate a demarcation between politics and family. In July 2023, the NCP split into two factions after Ajit Pawar walked out of his party, breaking from his uncle’s side to carve his own path in the political history of the state.
Sharad Pawar has distanced himself from the development and claimed to have learned about the oath ceremony planned for Saturday evening through the media.
We don’t know about the swearing-in. We got to know about it through the news. I have no idea about the swearing-in,” he said, addressing a press conference in Baramati, when asked if anyone from the Pawar family would be attending the ceremony.
Ajit Pawar wanted to give a ‘gift’ of reunion to uncle Sharad Pawar on his birthday (December 12), but the merger did not materialise at the time, NCP (SP) leader Ankush Kakade said on Friday.
According to Kakade, Ajit Pawar had urged him and other senior leaders, including Vitthal Sheth Maniar and Srinivas Patil – who share a close bond with the senior Pawar – to facilitate a reconciliation.
“You have good relations with Saheb (Sharad Pawar); please talk to him. Try to see how both NCP factions can become one again,” Kakade recalled Pawar junior’s words.
“Ajit Pawar had told me that we were supposed to come together on December 12, but we couldn’t. It’s okay; we will come together after the elections. Unfortunately, he could not fulfil the wish,” the NCP (SP) leader said.
Ajit Pawar’s Death In Plane Crash
NCP Chief Ajit Pawar was flying from Mumbai to Baramati when a small aircraft, a Learjet 45, owned and operated by VSR Ventures, crashed during a second landing attempt. Apart from Pawar, there were four more people on board – pilot Sumit Kapur, co-pilot Shambhavi Pathak, Pawar’s personal security officer Vidip Jadhav, and a flight attendant, Pinky Mali. All five died in a tragic crash.
