The embers of the pyre of her husband have barely cooled. Sunetra Pawar, who is still in a state of shock, accepting condolences from thousands of people who flock to her in Baramati, is slated to be the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Within four days of her husband’s shocking death in a plane crash, her party will choose her as the legislative party leader, making her the Deputy Chief Minister of India’s second biggest State.
As Sunetra Pawar is set to become Maharashtra’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister, becoming the successor of her late husband Ajit Pawar, who leaves behind a massive void in Maharashtra’s politics, challenges will be stacked against her. The path won’t be easy for a woman born in a political family, married into another political family, and who has seen several transitions in political life from close quarters, but from behind the curtains, and never in an active role. She also comes from a political culture where women are seen as a subsidiary support system to their ambitious men folk. The sudden, untimely and tragic death of her mass leader husband, who had wielded tremendous clout in the Mahayuti political alliance, in administration and in both the parties of NCP and NCP SP, has thrown her in the thick of things during turbulent times.
