Sunetra Pawar Likely to be Named NCP Legislature Party Leader on Jan 31
30 Jan 2026 8:50 PM IST30 Jan 2026 8:50 PM IST
The upcoming NCP meeting at Vidhan Bhavan will address the urgent need to fill the leadership vacuum left by Ajit Pawar's death, with Sunetra Pawar being the favored candidate for the deputy CM position.
In this Monday, Dec. 30, 2019 file photo, NCP leader Ajit Pawar with wife and party leader Sunetra Pawar at Vidhan Bhavan, in Mumbai. (PTI Photo/Mitesh Bhuvad)
Mumbai: The legislature wing of the NCP in Maharashtra will hold a meeting in Mumbai on January 31, where Deputy Chief Minister late Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra is set to be named as its leader, state minister Chhagan Bhujbal said on Friday.
Talking to reporters at the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) office here, Bhujbal said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has conveyed that he has no issues if her swearing-in ceremony as the deputy CM takes place on Saturday itself provided a decision to that effect is taken by the party.
The meeting will take place at the NCP office in Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai on Saturday afternoon, party sources said.
Sunetra Pawar will attend the meeting. The legislature party is expected to name her as the new leader and she may take oath as a deputy CM on Saturday itself, they added.
Sunetra Pawar is currently a Rajya Sabha MP and not a member of either House of the Maharashtra legislature. However, the Baramati assembly seat in Pune district has fallen vacant after Ajit Pawar's death in a plane crash on Wednesday.
Bhujbal said, "The legislature party meeting of the NCP will be convened on Saturday, where Sunetra Pawar will be named as its leader. Many leaders want her to become the deputy CM."
The most important thing is to fill the vacant post of the legislature party leader and subsequently that of the deputy CM, he said.
"(Senior NCP leaders) Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare are looking into the technicalities of the mourning period and other details...Sometimes, there is a three-day mourning period and sometimes ten days," the food and civil supplies minister said.
He, however, added that the final decision will be taken in the legislature party meeting.
NCP's tally in the 288-member state assembly came down to 40 with Ajit Pawar's death.
According to the party sources, all the NCP legislators have been asked to remain present in Mumbai on Saturday.
( Source : PTI )
Next Story