BJP leadership 'mastermind' behind Sunetra Pawar's appointment as Maharashtra Deputy CM: 'Saamana'

BJP and NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel do not want unification of two factions of the NCP, says an editorial in the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece

Shiv Sena (UBT), the Opposition party in Maharashtra, has alleged the BJP leadership was the "mastermind" behind Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sunetra Pawar taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the State, just days after the demise if her husband, Ajit Pawar.

An editorial in the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana on Monday alleged that the BJP leadership and NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel do not want the unification of the two factions of the NCP.

Sunetra took oath as the State's first woman Deputy Chief Minister Saturday, barely three days after 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.

Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar's uncle and chief of the rival faction NCP (SP), on Saturday claimed he had "no idea" about her swearing-in.

The Saamana editorial said the question before Maharashtra is on whose wish did Sunetra take oath as Deputy Chief Minister because neither Sharad Pawar nor the NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule, nor members of the Pawar family were aware of this.

Sunetra did not even give the slightest hint that she was leaving for Mumbai from Baramati to take oath, it said.

"The BJP leadership is the mastermind behind this politics," the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) claimed.

"Complications have increased in the Pawar family and Maharashtra politics after the death of Ajit Pawar. Many desire that these issues do not get sorted out," it added.

The editorial claimed that some in the NCP became more ambitious after Ajit's death and there was a race to take charge as the Deputy Chief Minister. There are differences between Patel and Tatkare. Sunetra was "installed" as Deputy Chief Minister because the party of "Patil-Pawar" should not go to Patel, the editorial claimed.

Sunetra was made to steer the ship, but its engine and control are with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Both Sunetra and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena can maintain their existence at the mercy of Fadnavis, it claimed.

Sunetra's post should not be a mere ornamental. She may probably not be "gungi gudiya" (mute doll) and work effectively, the editorial opined.

The NCP is an alliance with the "sanatani-minded" BJP, and Sunetra taking oath even before the completion of her husband's post-last rites rituals does not fit into the Hindutva beliefs, it claimed.

(With PTI inputs)