Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that the Mahayuti alliance will back the Nationalist Congress Party's decision on the vacant Deputy CM post, following the demise of Ajit Pawar. "The decision will be taken by the NCP. We will stand by whatever decision the NCP takes...We are standing by the family of Ajit Pawar and NCP," Devendra Fadnavis told reporters.
Earlier, NCP leaders met with CM Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the vacant Deputy CM post. "We went to meet the CM. Praful Bhai (Praful Patel), Tatkare (Sunil Tatkare) I, and Munde (Dhananjay Munde). We also met him (Fadnavis) last night. We asked if everything could be done tomorrow, from the swearing-in ceremony to everything else. The Chief Minister said he had no problem with it," Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said here on Friday. Bhujbal also revealed that the party has decided to elect late Ajit Pawar's wife, Sunetra Pawar, as legislative party leader. "It was decided among us that we will give Sunetra Pawar's name as legislative party leader," he said. Former Maharashtra Home Minister and senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh also said that it will be a matter of great joy if Sunetra Pawar becomes the Deputy CM.
"If Sunetra Bhabhi is made Deputy Chief Minister, it will be a matter of great joy... The family will sit together after three or four days and then make a decision," he said. He also said that NCP chief Ajit Pawar, who passed away in a plane crash on Wednesday, wanted to merge with Sharad Pawar's faction of NCP. "It was the late Ajit Dada Pawar's heartfelt wish that both parties (Sharad Pawar faction and NCP) come together. For this, he had several meetings with Jayant Patil and others. Ajit Dada wanted both parties to unite as soon as possible, and a decision had already been made accordingly," he said.
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Ajit Pawar, 66, died on Wednesday morning after the aircraft carrying him crashed while attempting to land at Baramati airport in Pune district. The plane crash-landed near the runway threshold, killing all five people on board the chartered plane. Among the deceased were his personal security officer, a flight attendant and two pilots.