Sunetra Pawar, the wife of former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is set to take oath as the state’s new Deputy Chief Minister on January 31, 2026, at 5 p.m.
Ajit Pawar was killed in a plane crash on January 28 in Baramati.
Sunetra Pawar had contested against Ajit Pawar’s cousin, Supriya Sule, the sitting MP from Baramati, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but was unsuccessful.
After taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister, Sunetra Pawar will be required to get elected to either House of the Maharashtra legislature — as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or the Legislative Council (MLC). She is currently a Member of the Rajya Sabha.
On Wednesday, Ajit Pawar was onboard a private jet along with two other personnel and two crew members when the aircraft crashed while landing. All five people on board were killed.
The aircraft, a Learjet 45 operated by a company named VSR, had taken off from Mumbai around 8 a.m. and crashed near Baramati airport during a landing attempt about an hour later.
The 66-year-old politician was the nephew of veteran leader and NCP founder Sharad Pawar, who was in Delhi attending Parliament’s Budget Session at the time.
In 2023, Ajit Pawar led a rebellion within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), resulting in a split. One faction was led by Ajit Pawar, while the other remained under Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar later joined the NDA government and assumed the role of Deputy Chief Minister.
Recently, there were indications of a possible NCP reunion, as both factions contested together in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections.