India, Jan. 29 -- Ajit Pawar's sudden death has left a leadership vacuum in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), with no successor commanding both organisational authority and the confidence of its MLAs. Senior leaders say a smooth transition would require a member of the Pawar family to assume charge, and Ajit's wife Sunetra is being seen as the most suitable choice.

Ajit's death comes 31 months after he split the NCP down the middle, in July 2023, deserting his uncle Sharad Pawar. When he walked away, he took more than 40 of the NCP's 54 MLAs with him, to join the BJP-led Mahayuti government.

"Only a member of the Pawar family would be able to take over the leadership of the party. No one else will be accepted by the party's leaders ...