Sharad Pawar Distances Himself as NCP Picks Sunetra Pawar for Deputy CM Post After Ajit Pawar’s Death

Senior NCP leader Sharad Pawar has made it clear that the decision to appoint Sunetra Pawar as the new Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra was taken by the party alone, without consulting the Pawar family.

Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar, is set to step into a major political role following the sudden death of the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister in a tragic plane crash on Wednesday morning. Speaking in New Delhi, Sharad Pawar—Ajit Pawar’s uncle and chief of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction)—said the choice was an internal party call.

“The decision was taken by the NCP. The family was not consulted,” Sharad Pawar said, underlining a clear separation between political decisions and personal ties.

When asked whether he had been sidelined in the process of choosing Ajit Pawar’s successor, Sharad Pawar responded curtly, “I don’t know.”

He further distanced himself from the developments, saying he came to know about Sunetra Pawar’s swearing-in ceremony only through media reports. “We don’t know about the oath-taking. I learned about it from the news. I have no idea about the swearing-in,” he said at a press conference in Baramati, when asked if any member of the Pawar family would attend the ceremony scheduled for Saturday evening.

The episode once again highlights the deep political divide within the Pawar family that began in July 2023, when the Nationalist Congress Party split into two factions after Ajit Pawar broke away from his uncle’s camp to form his own political bloc.

A Reunion That Never Happened

NCP (SP) leader Ankush Kakade revealed that Ajit Pawar had hoped to reunite the two NCP factions as a “birthday gift” to Sharad Pawar on December 12. According to Kakade, Ajit Pawar had asked senior leaders close to Sharad Pawar to act as intermediaries and help heal the rift.

“He told us to speak to Saheb and try to bring both factions together,” Kakade recalled. Ajit Pawar had reportedly said that while the reunion could not happen on December 12, it would take place after the elections. “Unfortunately, he could not fulfil that wish,” Kakade said.

Tragic End

Ajit Pawar died when a small aircraft—a Learjet 45 owned by VSR Ventures—crashed while attempting a second landing during a flight from Mumbai to Baramati. Along with him, four others lost their lives: pilot Sumit Kapur, co-pilot Shambhavi Pathak, personal security officer Vidip Jadhav, and flight attendant Pinky Mali.

As Maharashtra prepares for a new political chapter, Sharad Pawar’s remarks reflect not just grief, but also the complex mix of loss, distance, and unresolved divisions within one of the state’s most influential political families.

News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.