Who will be Ajit Pawar’s political successor?

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday that it is up to the NCP to choose its next leader following the untimely demise of party chief and Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar.The BJP leader added that both his party and the state government would support whatever decision the NCP makes.“Whatever decision is to be taken will be taken by the NCP. We will support their decision. Whether it concerns Ajit Pawar’s family or the NCP, we stand with them both as the government and as the BJP,” he told reporters in Mumbai.Fadnavis added that he would also review the procedures required to finalise the state budget, which Pawar—who held the crucial portfolio—was due to present next month.“He had already done significant work on the state budget. Starting tomorrow, I will personally oversee the remaining processes, and we will decide on the next steps,” the chief minister stated.His statement came amid reports that the NCP would hold a legislative party meeting on Saturday to elect Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s wife, to succeed her husband as both the legislative party leader, following which she would be elevated as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.However, Fadnavis declined to comment on Sunetra Pawar being sworn in as one of his two deputies, the other incumbent being Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde.Sunetra Pawar made her electoral debut in last year’s Lok Sabha election, where she was defeated by her sister-in-law and Ajit Pawar’s cousin, Supriya Sule, in the family’s Baramati stronghold.Ajit Pawar, who broke away from his uncle, veteran politician Sharad Pawar, in 2023 to join the BJP and Shiv Sena-led Mahayuti alliance, was the state’s longest-serving deputy chief minister, having held the post for six terms. The 66-year-old Maratha leader died on Wednesday morning when the private aircraft he was traveling in crashed during an emergency landing in Baramati. All five people on board, including Pawar’s personal security officer, both pilots, and a flight attendant, were killed.