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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 4:59:11 pm

From Grassroots Worker to State Anchor

Part - 1 Name: Sunetra Pawar Where: Ter, Dharashiv Marking eight months in office as Maharashtra’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister during the ongoing festival celebrating women's power, Sunetra Pawar has stabilized the state administration and the Nationalist Congress Party in Mumbai and across the state through pragmatic grassroots governance following the sudden death of her husband, Ajit Pawar, in an airplane crash. Stepping into frontline administrative leadership in January this year...

From Grassroots Worker to State Anchor

Part - 1 Name: Sunetra Pawar Where: Ter, Dharashiv Marking eight months in office as Maharashtra’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister during the ongoing festival celebrating women's power, Sunetra Pawar has stabilized the state administration and the Nationalist Congress Party in Mumbai and across the state through pragmatic grassroots governance following the sudden death of her husband, Ajit Pawar, in an airplane crash. Stepping into frontline administrative leadership in January this year amid family trauma and an abrupt political vacuum, Pawar brought decades of informal administrative grounding to the Mantralaya. Although long positioned away from the political spotlight during her husband’s career, her political exposure began early as the younger sister of former state minister Padmasingh Patil. When thrust into the Deputy Chief ministership, she countered opposition jibes labelling her a "Gungi Gudia" by securing a record-breaking victory in the Baramati assembly bypoll with a margin exceeding two lakh votes. Her political resolve was further underlined by consolidating authority over family-controlled sugar cooperative mills, standing firmly beside her son during the Pune land dispute, and resisting backchannel pressure regarding an unconditional merger between the two NCP factions. Pawar’s administrative agenda has prioritized women's welfare and rural economic independence. In her very first official decision as Deputy Chief Minister, she cleared flexible work hours for women state government employees commuting across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. She subsequently steered the state’s Women’s Empowerment Bill through the legislature, a framework that has already processed aid applications from over 37 lakh women farmers. Drawing on her executive experience as chairperson of the Baramati Hi-Tech Textile Park, which generated sustained employment for more than 15,000 women, she is presently establishing a broader state policy model for decentralized textile parks and pushing for an AI Centre of Excellence in agriculture. Pawar has integrated her past constituency projects directly into statewide planning. A school initiative she launched as an MP, sending underprivileged rural students to NASA, has now been converted into an official state government scheme. Her environmental track record, rooted in transforming Katewadi into a model eco-village under the Nirmal Gram campaign and establishing the Environmental Forum of India, continues to shape state directives concerning solar power deployment, water conservation, and organic farming. Outside the Secretariat, she maintains active community oversight through the educational institutions of Vidya Pratishthan and regular visits to local old-age homes, sustaining her public identity in Baramati as an accessible social worker affectionately addressed as "Vahini." Assuming the guardian ministership of Beed—a politically sensitive and historically underdeveloped district previously handled by Ajit Pawar—she has maintained a direct public grievance system. When local schoolgirls staged a mock news report highlighting the lack of science teachers in their school, Pawar intervened immediately to fill the vacancies. Beginning her administrative day at dawn in a businesslike manner, Pawar has mirrored her late husband’s punctual work routine, prompting the ruling coalition to anchor its public outreach on the slogan: "Vahini ahet na!"

US Vice President JD Vance, his family arrive in Delhi

PTI
Apr 21, 2025
2 min read


NEW DELHI: US Vice President J D Vance arrived here on Monday on a four-day visit to India against the backdrop of ongoing negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement between the two strategic partners to address a variety of issues, including tariff and market access.


Vance is accompanied by his Indian-origin wife Usha Chilukuri and their three children Ewan, Vivek, Mirabel and a delegation of senior US government officials.


The US Vice President and the Second Lady were received at the Palam air base by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.


The American leader was also accorded a ceremonial welcome on his arrival.

In the evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a dinner for the Vances after holding wide-ranging talks with the US Vice President.


External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Indian ambassador to US Vinay Mohan Kwatra are expected to be part of the Indian team to be led by PM Modi at the talks.


The focus of the meeting is likely to be on early finalisation of the proposed bilateral trade pact as well as ways to boost overall trajectory of ties between the two countries.


Besides Delhi, Vance and his family will travel to Jaipur and Agra.

Vance's first visit to India comes weeks after US President Donald Trump imposed and then paused a sweeping tariff regime against around 60 countries, including India.


New Delhi and Washington are now holding negotiations to seal a bilateral trade agreement that is expected to address a variety of issues, including tariff and market access.


Vance and his family are scheduled to leave for Jaipur on Monday night.

In Delhi, the US Vice President and his family are staying at the ITC Maurya Sheraton hotel.


On April 22, the Vances will visit a number of historical sites in Jaipur, including the Amer Fort, also known as Amber Fort. The fort is a UNESCO world heritage site.


In the afternoon, the US Vice President is scheduled to address a gathering at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur.


Vance is expected to delved into broader aspects of India-US relations under the Donald Trump administration during his speech that is expected to be attended by diplomats, foreign policy experts, Indian government officials and academia.


The US Vice President and his family will travel to Agra on the morning of April 23, people familiar with the matter said.


In Agra, they will visit the Taj Mahal and Shilpgram which is an open air emporium showcasing various Indian artefacts, they said.


After concluding their visit to Agra, the Vances will return to Jaipur on the second half of April 23.


The US Vice President and his family will depart for the US from Jaipur on April 24, according to the people cited above.

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