Parth Pawar to be nominated to Rajya Sabha as NCP backs Sunetra for Maharashtra Deputy CM: Sources
According to sources, Sunetra's swearing in ceremony will be held at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai around 5 pm. She will also contest bypolls to the Baramati Assembly constituency in the Pune district, which has fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's demise.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will likely nominate Ajit Pawar's son Parth Pawar to Rajya Sabha, replacing her mother Sunetra Pawar, said sources on Friday. Sunetra is all likely to be elected as NCP's legislative party leader and sworn in as Maharashtra deputy chief minister on Saturday.
According to sources, Sunetra's swearing in ceremony will be held at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai around 5 pm. She will also contest bypolls to the Baramati Assembly constituency in the Pune district, which has fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's demise.
Sources have also noted that Praful Patel will be made the NCP national president. However, a large section of NCP leaders feel that Sunetra should not only be made the deputy chief minister but also be appointed as the party's national president.
This has also ended speculations that the two factions of the NCP may reunite. The NCP split had happened in 2023 after Ajit walked away with majority of leaders and joined the Mahayuti, which included the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. At present, NCP's tally in Maharashtra Assembly has come down to 40 with Ajit Pawar's demise.
BJP to support NCP's decision
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the BJP will support NCP's decision to make Sunetra his deputy. Ajit Pawar, the longest serving deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, was handling the finance, planning, excise, sports and youth welfare (additional charge), and minority development and aukaf (additional charge) departments.
"The NCP will take whatever decision it has to take for the post of deputy chief minister, and the government and BJP will support the decision," Fadnavis said, speaking to reporters after meeting Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur. "I can only tell you that we are standing behind the family of Ajit Dada and NCP."
Ajit Pawar had died on Wednesday after the plane in which he was travelling crashed in Baramati. Along with him, four others also lost their lives. He was cremated on Thursday, with several leaders like Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Fadnavis, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin and others attending his last rites.