State minister and senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal stated that she would be named as the leader of the NCP’s legislative branch during a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday, January 31, 2026, in the afternoon.
On Saturday, January 31, 2026, Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar arrived in Mumbai to take the oath of office as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, succeeding her late husband and NCP leader Ajit Pawar.
In the early hours of the morning, Ms. Sunetra and her son Parth arrived at her late husband’s official mansion in south Mumbai, “Devgiri.”
She will be named the leader of the NCP’s legislature wing at a meeting on Saturday, January 31, at around 2:00 p.m., and she would then assume the role of Deputy Chief Minister, making history as the first female chief minister of Maharashtra.
On Saturday, January 31, the 40 NCP lawmakers will convene in Vidhan Bhavan after a low-key ceremony at Lok Bhavan at 5 p.m.
Ms. Sunetra, 62, is a Rajya Sabha member but does not serve in either house of the Maharashtra legislature. There are rumors that her son will take her seat in the Rajya Sabha. All of the action follows the death of Ajit Pawar in a plane crash that occurred on Wednesday in the Baramati area of Pune. NCP-SP leader Sharad Pawar said, “It is the decision of her party,” adding that he was unaware of Ms. Sunetra’s appointment or the oath ceremony. I’m not sure why the appointment was made so quickly.The “
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, meanwhile, declared, “The NCP will take whatever decision it has to take for the post of deputy chief minister, and we will support the decision.” We support the NCP and Ajit Dada’s family.
After running as an NCP candidate in the Lok Sabha 2024 elections in Baramati against her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, Ms. Sunetra gained notoriety in the political community. She was, nevertheless, defeated and subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.
