India, Feb. 2 -- It took many by surprise when NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar took the names of senior NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare while telling mediapersons on Saturday that he was not aware of Sunetra Pawar's decision to take over as deputy chief minister. He said he came to know that Patel, national working president of the NCP, and Tatkare, who is the state president, had taken the initiative to make the decision. It is well known that Patel and Tatkare played an important role when Ajit Pawar had first planned to take over the party in 2023. Tatkare was Ajit's close aide when he made an unsuccessful attempt to split the party in 2019. Ajit finally managed to do it three years later with a little help from the BJP and also when Patel, who was part of the founding team of the NCP in 1999, threw his weight behind him. After Ajit joined the Mahayuti coalition, Patel and Tatkare handled the task of maintaining relations with the BJP top brass in Delhi. NCP insiders say the two leaders were also not keen on the merger of the two factions of the NCP and were advising Ajit to be cautious while dealing with his uncle. It is also well known in both factions of the NCP that Pawar is not exactly happy with the duo. With his public remarks, Pawar has now held them responsible for Sunetra Pawar's decision to take oath within three days of her husband's death. "He wants to send a message to party workers that the two leaders are blocking the merger and that Sunetra is playing into their hands," remarked an NCP minister. In the coming days, Sunetra and her team will have to counter Pawar camp's attempts to take back control of the party and the roles of Patel and Tatkare will be significant in it. With the sudden demise of Ajit Pawar barely a month ahead of the state budget, CM Devendra Fadnavis has temporarily kept the former's finance portfolio with him. Fadnavis, who has handled the finance department earlier, has said that he intends to hand over the portfolio to the NCP after the budget session. Fadnavis is already handling four portfolios- home, general administration, energy and law and judiciary. The CM's challenge now is to find the right person to handle the crucial department at a time when the state is facing a difficult financial situation. NCP's current ministers has two seniors-Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif. It also has two former finance ministers-Sunil Tatkare and Dilip Walse-Patil. Bhujbal and Walse-Patil may not be keen to handle the busy department due to health issues. Tatkare is the party's lone Lok Sabha MP and Sunetra Pawar may not be keen to hand over the powerful department to him. A BJP minister said Fadnavis also has the option to keep finance with a BJP minister and in exchange hand over an important portfolio like revenue, which might be headed by Sunetra Pawar herself. The role played by NCP's election strategist Naresh Arora in Sunetra Pawar's decision to take over her late husband's position in the Mahayuti government is a topic of discussion in political circles. According to NCP insiders, Arora, who rushed to Baramati alongwith Sunetra and Parth after the plane crash, made a strong pitch for her to take over as deputy CM and that too immediately. Arora's company DesignBoxed had worked out NCP's campaign strategy for the assembly elections and both Ajit and Parth trusted him. Party insiders say it is likely that Arora will play a key role as the deputy CM's advisor on political and strategic matters. Will he be following in the footsteps of Prashant Kishore? Following senior IAS officer Manisha Mhaiskar's appointment as home secretary, focus is now on another significant posting-the BMC commissioner. The incumbent Bhushan Gagrani will retire on March 31. Ashwini Bhide who played a significant role in building the Metro 3 route is the frontrunner for the job, according to the Mantralaya grapevine. Bhide is currently additional chief secretary in the chief minister's office. Her chances could be more as Fadnavis may prefer a Marathi speaking officer as Mumbai civic chief in the backdrop of the Thackeray brothers winning most seats in Mumbai's Marathi heartland in the recent civic polls. Other options include senior IAS officers Vikas Kharge, Aseem Gupta and MMRDA chief Sanjay Mukherjee....