A crucial meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs and MLCs will be held today at the Vidhan Sabha to deliberate on the party’s future course of action following the shocking demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash.
The meeting comes amid intense speculation that Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, may be appointed as the new Deputy Chief Minister and that the two warring factions of the NCP could move towards a merger.
“The NCP legislature party meeting will be convened on Saturday, where Sunetra Pawar will be named as its leader. Many leaders want her to become the Deputy Chief Minister,” senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal said.
Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, arrived in Mumbai on Friday night and proceeded to Devgiri Bungalow, the official government residence allotted to Ajit Pawar.
#WATCH | Mumbai | Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM late Ajit Pawar, reaches their Mumbai residence. pic.twitter.com/MJUlAMrasZ
— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2026
The sister of former state minister and Lok Sabha MP Padamsinh Patil, Sunetra entered active politics only after the NCP split in 2023. Fondly known among party workers as ‘Vahini’, she contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Baramati against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule. Although she lost by a huge margin, Sunetra was later elected to the Rajya Sabha a few months later.
According to reports, Sunetra Pawar is likely to be named the NCP legislature party leader at today’s meeting, with her swearing-in ceremony as Deputy Chief Minister expected to take place at 5 pm. The party has also reportedly decided to field her from the Baramati Assembly constituency, which has fallen vacant following Ajit Pawar’s death.
NCP Maharashtra President Sunil Tatkare, however, declined to comment on discussions regarding the vacant Deputy CM post. "We still feel that Dada (Ajit Pawar) is with us. It is very painful for us to come to this (party) office today in his absence. Beyond that, I have nothing else to say," he said.
Meanwhile, sources in NCP (SP) and Sharad Pawar's family said they were not privy to her decision to join the BJP-led Mahayuti government. "The NCP (SP) leadership and Sharad Pawar's family members were completely in the dark about her plans," a source told PTI news agency.
Ajit Pawar (66), the longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, was travelling to Baramati to attend a rally for the Zilla Parishad elections when his chartered aircraft crashed and caught fire on Wednesday morning.
His death comes at a time when talks were underway regarding a possible merger between the NCP and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), aimed at strengthening the party. A visible thaw in relations between the two factions has been evident in recent months.
Earlier this month, the two groups formed an alliance for municipal elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad and have also announced a tie-up for the third phase of civic body polls scheduled for February 5. Both factions had agreed to contest the elections under Ajit Pawar’s faction’s ‘clock’ symbol.
