She replaced her husband Ajit Pawar who died in a plane crash on Wednesday.
Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar on Saturday took oath as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, replacing her husband Ajit Pawar, who was killed in a plane crash on Wednesday.
The 62-year-old is the state’s first woman deputy chief minister.
The Nationalist Congress Party leader is not a member of the state’s Assembly or the Legislative Council and will need to get elected to either of the Houses within six months.
Earlier on Saturday, Sunetra Pawar was elected as the leader of the legislative party of the NCP faction that Ajit Pawar led.
Ajit Pawar died when a small aircraft crashed near an airstrip in Baramati town during its second attempt to land after having initiated a go-around. Two pilots, a flight attendant and Ajit Pawar’s security officer were the others who died in the incident.
The cause of the crash was unclear. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, a unit of the civil aviation ministry, is investigating the incident.
