Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Sunetra Pawar. CM Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde were also present for the ceremony

The 62-year-old Rajya Sabha MP's elevation to the number 2 position in the BJP-led state cabinet will also mark the beginning of a new chapter for the NCP

Hailing from Tera village in Dharashiv (formerly known as Osmanabad) in the Marathwada region, Sunetra Pawar comes from a political family, but wasn't actively involved in politics herself for much of her life. Padamsinh Patil, her brother, is a senior NCP leader

Her father Bajirao Patil was involved in the Marathwada liberation struggle which preceded the merger of the Hyderabad state into the Indian union

A commerce graduate, she is said to have interest in painting, music, photography, and agriculture. After her marriage, she actively took up farming at Katewadi village

Senior NCP leaders as well as Maharashtra ministers were also present for the ceremony. Sunetra Pawar's son Jay was also present at Lok Bhavan

Described on her website as a passionate environmentalist and social entrepreneur, Sunetra Pawar made her electoral debut in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, facing off against her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, in Baramati, the home turf of the Pawar family. After losing to Sule, she was elected to the Rajya Sabha

Sunetra Pawar is also a trustee of the Vidya Pratishthan, an educational institution set up by Sharad Pawar. She has represented India in international discussions on sustainability and social innovation as a member of a think-tank of the World Entrepreneurship Forum based in France

Earlier in the day, Sunetra Pawar was elected as the leader of NCP's legislature party wing 

She was unanimously chosen during a meeting held at the Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai at 2 pm on Saturday