top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

‘Vahini’ crowned NCP’s new ‘Maharani’

Mumbai:  Damning all political ‘pundits’ and ‘punters’ on the fate of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after its President and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s numbing death in an air-crash on Jan. 28, his widow Sunetra Ajit Pawar seamlessly bounced into his place, both in the party and the government. Feeling orphaned and rudderless, the top-brass quickly elected Sunetra, 62, a Rajya Sabha Member, as the new NCP President, as the NCP Legislature Party Group Leader and as the Deputy CM of the state –...

‘Vahini’ crowned NCP’s new ‘Maharani’

Mumbai:  Damning all political ‘pundits’ and ‘punters’ on the fate of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after its President and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s numbing death in an air-crash on Jan. 28, his widow Sunetra Ajit Pawar seamlessly bounced into his place, both in the party and the government. Feeling orphaned and rudderless, the top-brass quickly elected Sunetra, 62, a Rajya Sabha Member, as the new NCP President, as the NCP Legislature Party Group Leader and as the Deputy CM of the state – making her the first woman to occupy the august post – and ensuring continuity with change. Most political analysts – who crowed of an impending doom for the NCP – were left speechless and breathless at Sunetra’s dramatic catapult into three key positions, wielding full control, barely 72 hours after her husband’s passing. For the soft-spoken Sunetra, these official positions may be new, but she’s hardly naïve and boasts a quiet and commanding profile in public life, in the social and business fields, though she was rarely seen and hardly heard, letting Ajit Pawar bask in the limelight. Political Clan Hailing from a prominent state political clan, her reluctant political journey started in summer-2024 when the NCP fielded her against her ‘nanad’ (and Ajit Pawar’s cousin), Supriya Sule, a three-time veteran MP from the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. It was intended to score political brownies over the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) of Sharad Pawar after the party he founded 25 years ago suffered a bitter vertical split in July 2023 - that even divided all the people in every home of Baramati. The 2024 Baramati LS contest rivalled that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi), but in the ‘Vahini’ ‘Nanad’ fight, the latter emerged victorious. However, Sunetra Pawar took it in her stride and she became a Rajya Sabha Member in June 2024 – which she quit today after taking over a Dy CM. Both Sunetra and Supriya enjoy cordial relations, both were MPs, both ensured the heat and dust of politics did not affect familial ties – as strictly ensured by Sharad Pawar since the past six decades – and was visible when the entire Pawar clan turned out to support her after Ajit Pawar’s sudden death. Away in Shadows Born in Ter, Dharashiv, Sunetra is the younger sister of former Minister and ex-MP Padamsinh B. Patil, and is a B.Com . Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, but preferred to stay away in the shadows. Silently working, Sunetra gradually built a public profile rooted in sustainable development, environmental conservation, women’s empowerment and rural transformation. Combining community-based involvement with institutional leadership, she played a significant role in shaping mass rural development models in the state. In 2010, she founded the NGO Environmental Forum of India (EFOI), that focused on environmental awareness and sustainable rural practices, introduced India’s eco-village model, integrating sanitation, renewable energy, waste management, green-bridge technology, solar technology and livelihood generation into rural development. It caught national attention after Katewadi village in Baramati was transformed into the country’s first eco-village in 2008. She led the Nirmal Gram (Clean Village) Campaign through self-help groups across 86 villages in Maharashtra, promoting organic farming, biodiversity conservation, water management and drought mitigation. Over the years, her initiatives bagged her multiple honours like the Sant Gadge Baba Swachata Abhiyan Award, Green Warrior Award, Cyber Gram Award, Nirmal Gram Award presented by then President Pratibha Patil, and recognition at the SACOSAN Summit under SAARC. In 2006, she took over as Chairperson of the Baramati Hi-Tech Textile Park Ltd, a multi-modal garment manufacturing cluster under the Centre’s Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks. Employing over 15,000 rural women, the park provides subsidies, training and skill-upgradation facilities, and ranks as her flagship contribution to women’s empowerment, with widespread recognition. Sunetra is a Trustee of Vidya Pratishthan, the premier educational institution with over 25,000 students, founded in 1972 by Sharad Pawar, and is a member of a Think Tank, the World Entrepreneurship Forum, France, since 2011, and is a Trustee-Advisor to an old age home in Baramati. Sunetra Ajit Pawar – propelled into high-profile duties three days after her husband Ajit Pawar’s death – is usually seen sporting pastel-shaded plain saris of different materials, silks, starched cottons, with light designs, accompanied by matching or colourful or printed blouses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sunetra Pawar was allotted excise, sports, minority development and Aukaf departments, but not finance and planning which her late husband Ajit Pawar held.

NCPs merger plan in limbo

Mumbai: With dizzying political developments this week, the proposed re-unification of Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (SP) with Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party appears to be in a limbo – due to power politics on both sides.

 

The whispered talks of the merger – laid bare by Sharad Pawar himself today in his explosive media interaction – triggered a furious and urgent race to secure organisational control of the NCP.

 

In barely 72 hours after Ajit Pawar’s passing on Wednesday (Jan. 28), Sunetra Ajit Pawar was catapulted as the party President, Legislative Party Leader and as the state’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister, catching even the seasoned NCP (SP) leaders by surprise.

 

Many in the Opposition feel that it was apparently cold fear among the NCP big brass that the NCP (SP) leaders - comprising Supriye Sule, Jayant R. Patil, Dr. Jitendra Awhad and others - would attempt to lord over the merged entity and dump them.

 

The haste at which the NCP leaders with the familiar coterie of Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and a handful of Ajit Pawar loyalists moved after his death was to make a pre-emptive strike and grab control of the party before the grief and dust settled, leaving the other (NCP-SP) side not time to even start its own manoeuvres.

 

By effecting a ‘smooth, seamless succession’ through quicky decisions, the wily group managed to effectively dominate the organization, and, by extension, somewhat over Sunetra Pawar, widely viewed as a political greenhorn.

 

All these would have been impossible had the two factions merged on February 12, - as Sharad Pawar revealed – as the unified NCP would have diluted Patel and Tatkare’s leverage.

 

Not Routine

Sharad Pawar’s expose was not a routine affair, but a calculated political intervention, with each statement striking as sharp as a double-edged razor. By claiming ignorance of the swearing-in ceremony, he distanced his faction from the unfolding drama, and kept his flock intact, for now at least.

 

Again, by naming Patel and Tatkare as the architects of the planned merger, he stopped them from any possible denials, and the remark about the tearing hurry was an indirect signal that Patel, Tatkare and even the Bharatiya Janata Party could be scared of a reunified and stronger party. It also restored Sharad Pawar’s moral and organisational authority.

 

Feb 12 Schedule 

The most disturbing part was Sharad Pawar stating that the merger was scheduled for Feb. 12; a clear message to the party workers in both factions how the series of developments in the past three days could be viewed as a betrayal of Ajit Pawar’s final intent before his last journey.

 

Willy-nilly, he painted the NCP (SP) as the legitimate ‘inheritor’ of Ajitdada’s political legacy while Patel-Tatkare may be the ‘usurpers’.

 

Added to it was the fact - that Sunetra Pawar purportedly kept aloof from the Sharad Pawar family since Ajit Pawar’ ashes were immersed – could isolate her politically, and push her into relying more on the NCP strategists who unilaterally managed the show in the past three days.

 

The fallout of the series of political moves is significant as even within NCP (SP), murmurs of discontent are growing, which may be ripe for exploitation not just by the Sunetra Pawar group but also by the BJP, which has its own independent reasons to destabilise rival entities.

 

The NCP ‘succession series’ may also upset Sharad Pawar’s long-cherished desire to hand over the reins to Supriya Sule - either as a dominant force in Maharashtra or as a heavyweight at the Centre.

 

The current focus is on Sunetra Pawar – but Sharad Pawar has firmly indicated that it's still too early to write him off.

 


“I personally do not see that will happen. The NCP leadership was with Ajit Pawar and now with Sunetra Pawar Ji. I don't see Mr Sharad Pawar being invited to join the NCP, given that he has lost the people's trust and the vote.”

Piyush Goyal, Union Minister, Commerce


"We have nothing to say on this matter right now."

Sunil Tatkare, Leader, NCP


“All discussions were held at our level, but it now appears the process may hit a roadblock following the (plane) accident. The talks were progressing in a positive direction, but the accident adversely affected the process. It was Ajit's wish to unite the two factions, and now it is our wish that his wish should be fulfilled.”

Sharad Pawar, Chief, NCP (SP)

 

Comments

bottom of page