India, Jan. 31 -- Sunetra Pawar, Rajya Sabha member and leader of Nationalist Congress Party, has become the first female deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. She succeeds her late husband, Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

Sunetra Pawar, daughter of former Maharashtra minister Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, unsuccessfully fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She was then sent to the Rajya Sabha by her party and the state's ruling alliance in July 2025.

Elected now by NCP MLAs as their leader, Pawar will be sworn in at 5 pm today. She has six months to become a state legislator.

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As per the affidavit filed by her ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2024, Sunetra Pawa...