Sunetra is Maha's first woman Dy CM, gets Ajit's portfolios except finance

Sunetra Pawar, wife of late NCP leader Ajit Pawar, sworn in as Maharashtra's first female deputy chief minister on Saturday.

In a low-key ceremony at Lok Bhavan, governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath to Sunetra Pawar.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and senior NCP leaders and MLAs were present at the event. MLAs and Ajit Pawar supporters shouted "Ajit dada amar rahe" as she took oath.


Barring finance, she will be handling all the other portfolios held by her husband, like excise, sports and minority affairs.

Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, has submitted her resignation from the upper house parliament before taking oath as the deputy CM.

Earlier in the day, the NCP called a legislative party meeting to choose its new leader after the death of Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash in Baramati on Wednesday.

A visibly grief-stricken Sunetra Pawar came to the meeting at the assembly premises accompanied by party leaders and her younger son, Jay. NCP MLA and senior leader Dilip Walse Patil moved a proposal nominating her as the legislative party leader and Chhagan Bhujbal seconded it. The proposal was adopted unanimously.

The meeting also unanimously agreed to give all the power as the legislative party leader to her. This means she can issue whips to party legislators and make key decisions.