Sunetra Pawar, wife of the deceased Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, is set to become the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The NCP plans to hold its Legislature Party meeting at 2 p.m. on Saturday (January 31, 2026) to choose its new Legislature Party leader to replace Mr. Pawar. A small swearing-in ceremony is likely to happen after that, top sources from the NCP told The Hindu on Friday (January 30, 2026).
Also read | Challenges stacked against Sunetra Pawar, who will take charge in a turbulent political scenario, amid a flux in two parties
The 62-year-old leader is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP, which heads the ruling alliance Mahayuti, would support any decision taken by the family and party of Ajit Pawar.
Political developments quickened in Maharashtra, three days after the sudden death of Ajit Pawar, the NCP supremo and the State’s Deputy CM, in an air crash at Baramati. His wife is currently the party’s sitting Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.
