BJP 'mastermind' behind Sunetra Pawar's appointment as deputy CM, claims Saamana

Saamana claims BJP orchestrated Sunetra Pawar's deputy CM appointment, questioning her role and timing amid political turmoil.

The Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday (February 2, 2026) 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 (January 31), 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 (January 31) 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.