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's 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 and four others died 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 'Saamana' editorial said the question before Maharashtra is on whose wish did Sunetra Pawar take oath as deputy CM because neither NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar nor its working president Supriya Sule, nor members of the Pawar family were aware of this. Sunetra Pawar did not even give the slightest hint that she was leaving for Mumbai from Baramati to take oath as deputy CM, 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 the death of Ajit Pawar. Many desire that these issues do not get sorted out," it added.

After Ajit Pawar's death, some in the NCP 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. Sunetra Pawar was "installed" as deputy CM because the party of "Patil-Pawar" should not go to Patel, the editorial claimed.

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, it charged.

The editorial further said Sunetra Pawar's deputy CM post should not be a mere ornamental. She may probably not be "gungi gudiya" (mute doll) and work effectively, it opined.

The NCP is an alliance with the "sanatani-minded" BJP, and Sunetra Pawar taking oath even before the completion of her husband's post-last rites rituals does not fit into the Hindutva beliefs, it claimed.