Politics in Maharashtra rarely pauses for breath. Power shifts fast and loyalties fracture faster. The sudden death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar
has left a vacuum at the heart of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and thrown Maharashtra’s already volatile political balance into turmoil. Baramati, the Pawar family’s political nerve centre, is grieving. The party Ajit Pawar led now faces an urgent question: who now steadies the ship? Ajit Pawar Funeral Live Updates For now, all eyes are on Sunetra Pawar. For decades, she was known simply as the “Pawar bahu”. The quiet presence beside one of Maharashtra’s biggest political strongmen. Rarely in the spotlight, never the headline act, but always there. Sunetra Pawar stands today at a political crossroads few anticipated. Wednesday's tragedy - the plane crash that killed her 66-year-old husband - has thrust her into the public glare. Circumstance has handed her a moment that could redefine not just her own role, but the future of the NCP faction Ajit Pawar built.
Who Is Sunetra Pawar
Sunetra Pawar comes from Dharashiv in Marathwada. Politics runs in the family. Her brother, Padamsinh Patil, was a state minister and Lok Sabha MP. Power, negotiation and networks were familiar terrain long before she entered electoral politics.
Married to Ajit Pawar in 1985, Sunetra spent years away from the cut and thrust of daily politics. Ajit was the public face, the strategist, the deal-maker. She, on the other hand, built her influence quietly, cultivating social, educational and business networks across Baramati and Marathwada.
That discretion shaped her image. Those close to the Pawar family describe her as sharp, disciplined and deeply aware of the machinery that keeps Maharashtra politics moving. When she finally stepped into the arena, it was not tentative.
Also Read: 'Oh Shit...': Pilot's Final Cockpit Words Before Tragic Baramati Plane Crash That Killed Ajit Pawar, 4 Others
Her first major political test came in 2024. Sunetra contested the Baramati Lok Sabha seat against Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar’s daughter and her sister-in-law. The contest was loaded with symbolism. It was not just an election. It was a referendum on the Pawar family split.
She lost. The margin was decisive. But the message was clear. Sunetra Pawar was no longer content to remain on the sidelines.
Within weeks, she entered Parliament through the Rajya Sabha, elected unopposed from Maharashtra. The move gave her national visibility and formal authority. It also signalled Ajit Pawar’s intent to shape succession within his faction.
Sunetra Pawar, Beyond Politics: Environment, Education, Employment
Beyond politics, Sunetra Pawar wears multiple hats. She chairs the Baramati Textile Company, a key player in a sector critical to rural employment in Maharashtra. She founded the Environmental Forum of India, which focuses on organic farming, sustainability and eco-villages. Her work in environmental advocacy has earned recognition within the state.
She is also a trustee of Vidya Pratishthan, the education trust founded by Sharad Pawar that educates tens of thousands of students. As a senate member of Savitribai Phule Pune University, she has had a say in higher education policy for years.
This layered profile matters now. The NCP is not just searching for a leader. It is searching for reassurance.
NCP's Seasoned Heavyweights
Within the party, there are seasoned heavyweights. Praful Patel brings organisational experience and national reach. Chhagan Bhujbal commands influence among OBC voters. Dilip Walse Patil is a known administrator. Yet none carry what Sunetra Pawar does at this moment: legitimacy born of loss and legacy.
The Baramati tragedy has produced a wave of sympathy that cannot be manufactured. In Maharashtra politics, emotion often reshapes equations more swiftly than ideology. Sunetra stands at the centre of it.
There is also the question of tradition. The Pawar story has long been about men. A matriarchal turn would mark a break from that pattern.
Women in Maharashtra’s political dynasties have often played supportive or symbolic roles. Even Supriya Sule, despite her stature, operates within carefully negotiated limits. Sunetra Pawar’s emergence could challenge that norm.
Still, her path is not predetermined. She may choose to remain a guiding force rather than a commanding one. She may act as a bridge at a time when whispers of NCP merger have resurfaced, or she may step decisively into leadership, consolidating Ajit Pawar’s faction around her.
There are younger claimants too - son Parth Pawar and nephew Rohit Pawar. Both have ambitions. Both have public profiles. Yet for now, neither matches Sunetra’s combination of experience, networks and public sympathy.
The question looming over Maharashtra is stark. Does Sunetra Pawar become the custodian of Ajit Pawar’s political legacy? Or does she reshape it entirely?
In a state where the improbable often becomes inevitable, nothing can be ruled out.
