Mumbai: The opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday claimed that the BJP leadership was behind Sunetra Pawar’s swearing-in as Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, just days after the death of her husband, Ajit Pawar.
An editorial in the Sena (UBT) mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ also alleged that the BJP leadership and Nationalist Congress Party leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel do not want the two factions of the NCP to unite.
Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as the state’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday, just three days after NCP leader Ajit Pawar and four others died in a plane crash in Baramati, Pune district, raising questions among some about the speed of the development.
Rival NCP (SP) chief and Ajit Pawar’s uncle Sharad Pawar claimed on Saturday that he had no prior knowledge of her swearing-in. The ‘Saamana’ editorial stated that the question before Maharashtra is who instructed Sunetra Pawar to take the oath as Deputy CM, as neither NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, nor working president Supriya Sule, nor any member of the Pawar family was aware of it. It added that Sunetra Pawar did not give any indication that she was going from Baramati to Mumbai to take the oath as Deputy CM.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) claimed that the BJP leadership was behind this political maneuvering. It further stated, “After Ajit Pawar’s death, difficulties have increased in the Pawar family and in Maharashtra politics. Many people do not want these issues to be resolved.”
After Ajit Pawar’s death, some people in the NCP became more ambitious, and there was a race within the party to grab the Deputy CM post. There are differences between Patel and Tatkare. The editorial claimed that Sunetra Pawar was made Deputy CM so that the Patil-Pawar faction of the party would not go to Patel. Sunetra Pawar has been given the responsibility of steering the ship, but its engine and controls are in the hands of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. It has been alleged that both Sunetra Pawar and the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde can only survive at the mercy of Fadnavis.
The editorial further stated that Sunetra Pawar’s Deputy CM post should not be merely symbolic. It suggested that perhaps she will not be a “puppet” and will work effectively. It was also claimed that the NCP is in an alliance with the “orthodox” BJP, and Sunetra Pawar taking the oath of office even before the completion of her husband’s funeral rites does not align with Hindutva principles.
