Last Updated:January 31, 2026, 10:07 IST
Long absent from frontline politics, Sunetra Pawar now finds herself at the centre of a leadership transition following her husband Ajit Pawar’s death.
Ajit Pawar’s sudden death in a plane crash has left a vacuum in the Maharashtra government, where his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction governs in alliance with CM Fadnavis-led BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.
Into this uncertainty has stepped Sunetra Pawar, the wife of the late Deputy Chief Minister, whose name, according to party sources, has been backed to take charge. If the appointment goes through, the 63-year-old Rajya Sabha MP will become the state’s first woman Deputy CM.
The oath-taking ceremony is likely to be held at 5 pm on Saturday, said NCP sources, adding she will also take charge as the party chief. The preparations have begun at the Raj Bhawan.
Despite being part of the Pawar family for almost four decades, Sunetra kept her distance from active politics until very recently.
Born in 1963 in Osmanabad (now Dharashiv), Sunetra grew up in a Maratha family deeply entrenched in the region’s political landscape. Her father, Bajirao Patil, was a notable local politician, and her brother, Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, rose to significant influence in the district during the 1980s. This positioned her within a politically active environment long before she entered the Pawar family.
She completed her Bachelor’s degree in commerce from S B Arts and Commerce College in Aurangabad (now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) in 1983. In December 1985, she married Ajit Pawar through an alliance arranged by her brother after the two first met earlier that year. Even after entering one of Maharashtra’s most powerful political households, Sunetra remained distant from frontline politics for several decades.
Sunetra’s earliest public role came through social work in and around Baramati. One of her most recognised initiatives began in Kathewadi, the Pawar family’s ancestral village, where she noticed widespread open defecation and inadequate sanitation. She led a sustained cleanliness campaign, persuading families to construct toilets and participating personally in community drives. Kathewadi later received the Centre’s ‘Nirmal Gram’ status in 2006 after becoming open-defecation free.
Over time, the village developed into a model eco village with solar streetlights, biogas plants, organised waste management and organic farming. The village also adopted administrative practices such as including mothers’ names alongside fathers’ names in land records and supporting women’s self-help groups. Several awards followed, including the Sant Gadgebaba Swachhata Abhiyan recognition.
Sunetra was also instrumental in establishing the Baramati Hi Tech Textile Park, a 65-acre facility approved in 2008 under the Centre’s Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks. As chairperson of the project, she oversaw an industrial hub employing more than 15,000 workers, the majority of them women, in weaving, apparel and printing units.
Her formal entry into politics came only in 2024, when Ajit Pawar fielded her as the NCP candidate from Baramati on the BJP-led NDA ticket, in a high-stakes contest against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule.
Sule is the daughter of NCP founder Sharad Pawar, whose faction is in the opposition, with the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
The election symbolised the widening split within the Pawar family and the NCP. Sunetra lost the contest, but her candidature marked a turning point in her public role.
Months later, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Since taking oath in June 2024, her attendance has been about 69 per cent. She has participated in four debates, slightly above the national average of 58 for the same period, which translates to roughly 10 debates per year across a six-year term. Despite this, she has maintained a relatively low public profile.
While Sunetra herself has kept away from controversy, legal cases involving close family members have periodically surfaced in public discussion.
In 2009, her brother Padamsinh Bajirao Patil was named the main accused in the 2006 murder of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver near Navi Mumbai. The CBI charged him with murder and criminal conspiracy, and the case remains pending.
Her name also appeared in early inquiries related to the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank case because of her links to firms involved in sugar mill transactions. In 2021, the Enforcement Directorate attached assets belonging to companies associated with Ajit and Sunetra Pawar, though neither was named in the agency’s chargesheet. In April 2024, the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing stated that no criminal offence was found in the loan sanctioning or sale and lease of sugar mills linked to the bank, effectively giving her a clean chit.
The leadership vacuum has placed Sunetra Pawar at a decisive crossroads. Unlike senior figures such as Sunil Tatkare or Praful Patel, she carries the emotional resonance of the Pawar name, a political asset that still holds considerable sway in the family’s home turf.
The transition, however, comes with clear complexities. Sunetra is often described as a “Green Warrior", with her strengths rooted in social entrepreneurship, community initiatives and soft-power engagement. Stepping into the Deputy Chief Minister’s office would require her to navigate the demanding and often cut-throat dynamics of the state cabinet, while also becoming a key channel of communication with CM Fadnavis.
With her sons, Parth and Jay Pawar, still early in their political journeys, the responsibility of holding the faction together now rests largely on her.
A particularly delicate challenge lies in managing ties with the NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar. Before the Baramati plane crash, there were indications of a tentative “softening" between the two sides, prompting speculation about a possible reunification.
A majority of party workers and supporters have expressed a desire for the factions to merge. Anil Deshmukh said, “It was the heartfelt wish of Ajit Pawar that both the NCP factions should merge at the earliest… we should go ahead with the merger…it was Ajit Pawar’s last wish." How Sunetra chooses to navigate this will be central to her leadership.
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News india Who Is Sunetra Pawar? Rajya Sabha MP, Social Worker, And Likely Choice For Maharashtra Deputy CM
