BJP 'mastermind' behind Sunetra Pawar's appointment as deputy CM, claims Saamana

The Opposition Shiv Sena UBT on Monday claimed the BJP leadership was the mastermind behind NCP leader Sunetra Pawar taking oath as Maharashtra deputy chief minister, just days after her husband Ajit Pawars demise.

The Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday claimed the BJP leadership was the ''mastermind'' behind NCP leader Sunetra Pawar taking oath as Maharashtra deputy chief minister, just days after her husband Ajit Pawar's demise. 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 unification of the two NCP factions. Sunetra Pawar took oath as the state's first woman deputy CM on Saturday, barely three days after NCP leader Ajit Pawar was killed along with four others in an air crash at Baramati in Pune district, inviting criticism from some quarters over the pace at which the development took place. Rival NCP (SP) chief and Ajit Pawar's uncle, Sharad Pawar, on Saturday claimed that he had ''no idea'' about her swearing-in. The editorial said Sunetra Pawar's deputy CM post should not be ornamental, and opined that she may not be ''gungi gudiya'' (mute doll) and work effectively. The NCP is in an alliance with the ''sanatani-minded'' BJP, and Sunetra Pawar taking oath even before the completion of her husband's post-death rituals does not fit into the Hindutva beliefs, it claimed. The editorial said that the question before Maharashtra is on whose wish Sunetra Pawar took oath as deputy CM, because neither NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, its working president Supriya Sule, nor members of the Pawar family were aware of this. Sunetra Pawar didn't even give the slightest hint that she was leaving for Mumbai from Baramati for the swearing-in, it said. The BJP leadership is the ''mastermind'' behind this politics, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) claimed. ''The complications have increased in the Pawar family and Maharashtra politics after Ajit Pawar's death. Many wish that these issues do not get sorted out,'' it added. The editorial claimed that after Ajit Pawar's death, there was unease in the NCP, as some leaders became more ambitious and there was a race to take charge as the deputy CM within the party. There are differences between Patel and Tatkare, and Sunetra Pawar was ''installed'' as deputy CM because the party of ''Patil-Pawar'' should not go to Patel, it claimed, referring to NCP Working president Praful Patel. Sunetra Pawar was made to steer the ship, but its engine and control are with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Both Sunetra Pawar and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena can maintain their existence at the mercy of Fadnavis, the Sena (UBT) charged. The editorial said that the BJP will surely contest the 2029 assembly polls independently, and many MLAs from the Shiv Sena and the NCP will join the saffron party.

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