30 January,2026 10:14 PM IST | Mumbai | Sanjeev Shivadekar
NCP leader Ajit Pawar with wife Sunetra at Vidhan Bhavan in 2019. PIC/PTI
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has called a meeting of all its party legislators in Mumbai to decide on the further course of action following the demise of its chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Ajit Pawar in a tragic air crash on Wednesday. According to party leaders, NCP will elect its legislative leader and also propose the name of Pawar's wife, Sunetra, as the new leader, and urge her to take responsibility as Maharashtra's Deputy CM.
She would be the first woman to hold the post in the state.
According to an official notice issued by the NCP legislature party office, the meeting of all Members of Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will be held on Saturday at 2 pm in Vidhan Bhavan, Mumbai. The NCP has made it mandatory for its legislature members to attend the meeting.
The notice, signed by NCP's Legislature Party leader and Maharashtra President Sunil Tatkare, however, does not specify the agenda for the meeting. It has been circulated to all legislators.
Earlier, senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said, "Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Tai should take charge. There is nothing wrong with Sunetra Ajit Pawar taking charge as the Deputy Chief Minister. After all, everyone wants it to happen. In the legislative party leader meeting on Saturday, a final decision will be taken on this."
In fact, the veteran NCP leader claimed that if everything goes smoothly, one can even expect the swearing-in ceremony on Saturday itself. "As it is said, the show must go on," Bhujbal added.
mid-day, in its Friday edition, had reported that Sunetra Pawar is likely to take the Deputy CM's post in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government.
Meanwhile, Tatkare, while speaking to the media in Mumbai, said that the Pawar family is occupied with religious rituals following the deputy CM's death.
"Once the rituals are completed, we will discuss the issue with all the family members of the Pawar clan," Tatkare added.
On Friday morning, Tatkare had a closed-door meeting with CM Fadnavis in Mumbai. Though there has been no official communication about the meeting, NCP sources claim that Fadnavis has agreed to stand firmly with any decision taken by the Pawar family and NCP.
Ajit Pawar was the leader of NCP's Legislative Party and held crucial portfolios such as finance and planning, along with a few other departments. He died on Wednesday, January 28, in a plane crash near Baramati.
