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“Sunetra Pawar may be elected as legislative party leader of NCP tomorrow,” said Bhujbal. “There is possibility that her name will be confirmed for post of deputy CM,” said Tatkare
Sunetra Pawar with CM Devendra Fadnavis. (File)
Amid the buzz over Ajit Pawar’s successor and merger of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the party is likely to call their legislative party meeting soon.
Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra will be picked as the leader of the faction in the meeting, said sources close to the family. “A meeting of all NCP MLAs has been called tomorrow to elect the legislative party leader. Almost everyone wants Sunetra ji to be elected as the legislative party leader. If this decision is made tomorrow, preparations for the swearing-in ceremony will likely begin as soon as tomorrow,” said Chhagan Bhujbal.
“There is a possibility that Sunetra Pawar’s name will be confirmed even for the post of deputy CM…It is understood that a final decision will be taken after discussing with Sunetra Pawar today or tomorrow,” said Sunil Tatkare.
Bhujbal, Tatkare and Dhananjay Munde met CM Devendra Fadnavis at Varsha Bungalow on Friday. “We had gone to meet the Chief Minister today, and it was tentatively decided there that a CLP meeting would be called and held tomorrow. But as there is a period of mourning, no such letter has been issued yet. Appointing the CLP leader, which is equivalent to appointing the Deputy Chief Minister, is important for us. Our priority is to appoint the CLP leader. Therefore, our efforts are underway in that direction. A decision will be made in the next one or two hours,” said Bhujbal.
On the merger of the two parties, Bhujbal said, “I have no information on this.”
Ajit Pawar’s NCP is in alliance with Fadnavis-led BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Sena in the Maharashtra government. His uncle Sharad Pawar and cousin Supriya Sule’s NCP faction is in the opposition, with the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. At the time of his death, Ajit Pawar held key departments including Finance, Planning and State Excise, and had additional charge of Sports and Youth Welfare and Minority Development. All these portfolios are now vacant.
During the recent civic polls, which the two factions contested in alliance, Ajit Pawar had also told select journalists that he intended to merge his party with the NCP (SP) while his uncle Sharad Pawar (85) was in good health. After contesting the January 15 civic elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together, the two factions decided to continue the tie-up for the next month’s Zilla Parishad elections too.
Why Sunetra Pawar may be picked over Supriya Sule
A majority of leaders of the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) want Sunetra Pawar to become the Deputy Chief minister and lead the party. The reason behind this that the family led party can’t have leadership outside the family. Also, the NCP is a Maratha-based party, hence non-Maratha leaders like Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Sunil Tatkare will not be acceptable to cadre and leaders. If a non-Maratha face becomes the chief of party, there is a chance that the cadre may get disturbed, said sources.
Sunetra Pawar is a Maratha face, and is the immediate family of Ajit Pawar. For the past few years, she has been involved in the day-to-day affairs of the party. So leaders are demanding that she should lead the party in legislation too, said sources.
No doubt that merger was on the cards but due to the demise of Ajit Pawar, it has been delayed. Leaders from both factions of the NCP still respect Sharad Pawar. But the question is for how long can he lead, said sources. Sule does not have the full support of the MLAs, MPs from the both sections due to her working style, say sources.
Sunetra has good ground connections in both sections of the NCP. She is an acceptable face for a majority of leaders from both the sections. Hence there is chance that under the guidance of Sharad Pawar, Sunetra may lead the NCP (United) in the future.
Pawar family’s decision final
Meanwhile, a private meeting of the Pawar family was held in Baramati on Friday morning. It has been confirmed that any political decision related to the party will be taken only by the Pawar family, according to sources.
“In the meeting, it was clarified that the Pawar family will make all internal party decisions together. So now, whether to join the government, merge with another group, or decide party positions, all these crucial powers will rest only with the Pawar family,” News18 Marathi quoted sources as saying.
According to sources, in recent days, some senior party leaders were making different statements about the merger and party positions, which was causing confusion among workers. To stop this confusion, the Pawar family has decided to keep these powers with themselves.
January 30, 2026, 14:31 IST
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