2 minutes of readingBombayUpdated: February 10, 2026 10:40 pm IST
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on Tuesday assumed ministerial duties at the state secretariat Mantralaya, 13 days after the death of her husband and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, beginning her first full day in office.
Sunetra Pawar came to Bombay of Pune early on Tuesday morning, accompanied by senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party and her eldest son, Parth Pawar. Among those present were NCP leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dhananjay Munde.
Tuesday also marked the first meeting of the state cabinet to be held after the death of Ajit Pawar. The meeting assumed additional importance as the state government approved a series of decisions that Ajit Pawar had closely followed during his tenure.
Among the approvals was a Rs 75-crore sports complex in Baramati, a project considered close to Ajit Pawar. The Cabinet also cleared the transfer of 1,000 acres of land in Indapur to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and approved the appointment of 11 officials to the post of additional district collector.
Sunetra Pawar received at Cabinet meeting by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Earlier in the day, soon after arriving in Mumbai, Sunetra Pawar visited the Siddhivinayak temple along with party leaders and offered prayers. He later paid tribute to BR Ambedkar at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar.
He then visited the state office of the Nationalist Congress Party, where he paid tribute to Ajit Pawar’s portrait in his cabin.
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After the visit to the party office, Sunetra Pawar headed to Mantralaya to formally take charge. Before the cabinet meeting, he had a brief conversation with the PNC ministers in the antechamber of his office.
After the cabinet meeting, he attended a meeting of legislative party leaders.
Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as the first deputy chief minister of Maharashtra on January 31. She was given Excise, Sports, Minority Welfare and Wakf departments and was also appointed as Guardian Minister of Beed and Pune districts.
She plans to visit Delhi on Wednesday to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister amit shah.