Sunetra Pawar for Maharashtra Deputy CM? BJP says it's NCP's call
Synopsis
Following Ajit Pawar's death, his wife Sunetra Pawar is speculated to be the next Maharashtra Deputy CM. While NCP's Chhagan Bhujbal proposed her name, the BJP says it is the NCP's internal matter. Sharad Pawar has denied any knowledge.
Amid ongoing speculation that Nationalist Congress Party MP Sunetra Pawar being proposed as Maharashtra Deputy CM after Ajit Pawar's death, BJP MP Mithilesh Kumar Katheria on Saturday said that such decisions remain entirely up upto the NCP.
This comes after NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Friday said that the NCP would elect Ajit Pawar's wife, Sunetra Pawar, as the legislative party leader.
"The NCP is a political party. The decisions regarding their party are entirely up to them. Who will hold which position and who will not is a matter for their party leadership to decide," Katheria told ANI.
Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday, after which his wife Sunetra Pawar is speculated to take up the vacant Deputy CM post.
Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said that the party has pitched Sunetra Pawar's name and asked CM Devendra Fadnavis if the swearing-in ceremony can take place today.
Sharad Pawar's Reaction
Earlier today, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief and Ajit Pawar's uncle, Sharad Pawar, said that he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being pitched for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister.
Speaking to reporters in Baramati, Sharad Pawar said that NCP Working President Praful Patel and MP Sunil Tatkare took the initiative to decide on the posts that fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's death in a plane crash.
NCP Calls Meeting Amid Speculation
Meanwhile, all of the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) representatives in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will gather at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai on Saturday at 2:00 PM.
In the notice of meeting signed by the President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Nationalist Congress Party, Sunil Tatkare, on Friday, all members of the Legislative Assembly/Legislative Council are called upon for the meeting. This comes amid speculations around Sunetra Pawar as the Deputy CM face and a merger of the two NCP factions.
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