Challenges stacked against Sunetra Pawar, who will take charge in a turbulent political scenario, amid a flux in two parties

The embers of the pyre of her husband have barely cooled. Sunetra Pawar, who is still in a state of shock, accepting condolences from thousands of people who flock to her in Baramati, is slated to be the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Within four days of her husband’s shocking death in a plane crash, her party will choose her as the legislative party leader, making her the Deputy Chief Minister of India’s second biggest State.

As Sunetra Pawar is set to become Maharashtra’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister, becoming the successor of her late husband Ajit Pawar, who leaves behind a massive void in Maharashtra’s politics, challenges will be stacked against her. The path won’t be easy for a woman born in a political family, married into another political family, and who has seen several transitions in political life from close quarters, but from behind the curtains, and never in an active role. She also comes from a political culture where women are seen as a subsidiary support system to their ambitious men folk. The sudden, untimely and tragic death of her mass leader husband, who had wielded tremendous clout in the Mahayuti political alliance, in administration and in both the parties of NCP and NCP SP, has thrown her in the thick of things during turbulent times.

For the NCP, it is now a battle for survival, where the legislators and cadres will not find any other face acceptable as a leadership option. Though the choice was within the family, Parth Pawar’s and Jay Pawar’s political inexperience had discarded them at this juncture.

Sunetra Pawar inherits the party at a time when tremendous public pressure is being built by a section of the NCP and NCP SP leadership for the merger of the two NCPs at the earliest. She also inherits it at a time when a substantial section of the NCP leadership is opposed to the amalgamation of the two parties, refusing to merge identities with an entity under Sharad Pawar’s leadership.

She is set to inherit Ajit Pawar’s position as the Deputy Chief Minister in a political combination where the two other leaders are dominant, and where an equally dominant Ajit Pawar had formed the third pillar of the tripolar alliance. There will be speculations about her political and administrative performance in the Mahayuti alliance. Though she will enjoy the sympathy and support of the cadres within the party, and within the government too.

She will have seasoned political leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal, Praful Patel, and Sunil Tatkare by her side. But she will also have to eventually helm an important impending decision on whether her party would like to include Sharad Pawar’s party.

For NCP, which has garnered its legislative strength on the basis of its rural voter base primarily in western Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar was the mass leader who held clout and heft within a party which is a conglomeration of regional satraps brought together under one umbrella. “His leadership was acceptable to everyone. He held everyone together, and the party functioned smoothly. I don’t know what will happen now,” a senior leader said. With his demise, each satrap will likely have his own individual aspiration.

While both factions of NCP have spoken of the reunification of the parties and of the Pawar family, that path isn’t easy either. There are two big questions which will have to be answered. One NCP is already a part of the ruling alliance of Mahayuti and is firmly sitting as an NDA partner. Will Sharad Pawar decide to leave the secular credentials to join hands with the BJP, is the first question. And whether the BJP will want to trust Sharad Pawar the way it trusted Ajit Pawar is another question.

“It is a writing on the wall. Both the NCPs will reunite, and Pawar Saaheb will go with the BJP. There is no INDIA Bloc, no Maha Vikas Aghadi,” a Congress leader said.

Another senior leader said that the sudden demise of Ajit Pawar had raised questions on the future of Pawars’ leadership, and the fate of a regional party like NCP.

“The merger decision isn’t a decision of the two parties alone anymore. The BJP top leadership will also have to be taken into confidence for it,” a senior leader said.

The untimely demise of Ajit Pawar is slated to have long-term implications on Maharashtra politics.