Maharashtra Dy CM Sunetra Pawar takes charge of official duties

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on Tuesday assumed her ministerial duties at the state secretariat Mantralaya, 13 days after the death of her husband and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. She was accompanied by senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders and her elder son Parth Pawar as she took her seat in the deputy CM's office, marking a poignant transition in the state's leadership.

NCP leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dhananjay Munde were among those present. Sunetra Pawar will attend the cabinet meeting scheduled on Tuesday, the first to be held since Ajit Pawar's death. She will also participate in the business advisory committee meeting for the February 23 budget session. NCP leader Ajit Pawar was killed in a plane crash at Baramati in Pune district on January 28. Sunetra Pawar took oath as the state's first woman deputy CM on January 31. She has been given the charge of the exicse, sports, minority welfare and Aukaf departments and also appointed guardian minister of Beed and Pune. She arrived in Mumbai from Pune early on Tuesday and offered prayers at the Siddhivinayak temple and the memorial of BR Ambedkar at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar area. The deputy CM, accompanied by her elder son, then visited the NCP office and met party MLAs and ministers before heading to the Mantralaya. In the first election held on February 7 after the death of Ajit Pawar, his party retained the Pune Zilla Parishad by securing 51 of 73 seats, as per the results declared on Monday. The NCP and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) had contested together on the 'clock' symbol.