Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 31 (HBTV): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar was on Friday elected as the party’s Legislative Party Leader and is set to take oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra later in the day.
The post fell vacant following the death of her husband Deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in Baramati earlier this week. Sunetra Pawar is expected to resign from her Rajya Sabha seat prior to being sworn in.
Senior NCP leaders, including party Working President Praful Patel and Maharashtra unit president Sunil Tatkare, met at the Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai and proposed Sunetra Pawar’s name for the position.
Ahead of the meeting, Tatkare said the party’s legislature members were expected to elect Sunetra Pawar as the Legislative Party Leader, after which NCP leaders would meet the Chief Minister with an official letter seeking final approval. ‘Our legislature party members will meet at 2 pm today. The group leader will be elected. We hope that, keeping in mind the sentiments of the people, Sunetra Pawar will be elected as the leader,’ he said.
Tatkare added that NCP MLAs, MPs and senior leaders had collectively arrived at the decision and that further details would be shared after the legislature party meeting.
Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. A member of the Rajya Sabha, she has been associated with initiatives promoting inclusive and sustainable progress and has led campaigns related to biodiversity conservation, protection of endangered species, water resource management and drought mitigation.
Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal also welcomed the move, calling it a good decision and saying that people wanted her to take on the role following the untimely death of Ajit Pawar.
(ANI)