Sunetra leaves for Mumbai without talks with Pawars, family upset

Pune: Members of the extended Pawar family are said to be upset with NCP chief late Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra after she left for Mumbai to take the oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra without consulting Sharad Pawar and other seniors.Sources said that a meeting of extended family was planned late on Friday in Baramati in presence of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar to deliberate on the possible merger of the two NCP factions that the late Ajit Pawar was pressing for before his tragic death in a plane crash in Baramati.Family sources said that neither Sharad Pawar nor any of the senior members were consulted by Sunetra while accepting the deputy chief minister's post in the state cabinet.Sources very close to the Pawars told TOI that the family members were hurt by the fact that none of them were informed about or invited to Saturday's oath-taking ceremony in Mumbai. After immersing the ashes of the deceased leader, they were all to meet at ‘Govindbaug' Sharad Pawar's Baramati residence for an informal meeting but, the sources said, nobody from Ajit Pawar's family attended this meeting."When one of them called up, a member of Sunetra Pawar's family said that she and one of her son had already left for Mumbai to attend the oath-taking ceremony," a close associate of the Pawar family told TOI.The sources added, "The deputy chief minister's post is not a constitutional one and therefore, there was no need to arrange the oath-taking function on the fourth day of the passing away of Ajit Pawar. Had they (NCP) showed the courtesy of waiting for the 12th or the 13th day of mourning before their political move, the other group would not have felt slighted." The Pawar family now feels that by accepting the proposal without consulting them, Sunetra has walked into a BJP trap, they added.Though Sunetra did not respond to the calls made to her by this reporter, earlier on Friday, Narhari Zirwal, cabinet minister and a close associate of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who was among the NCP members advocating for Sunetra Pawar as deputy chief minister, urged Sharad Pawar to take the lead in guiding both groups towards unification.Interacting with reporters in Baramati, Zirwal said, "While Sunetra vahini (sister-in-law) should be part of the state cabinet as deputy chief minister, Pawar Saheb can play the role of a guardian and ensure the merger of both groups."Several personalities visited the residences of Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra and his uncle Sharad Pawar in Baramati to offer their condolences on Friday. Former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar and former Congress chief minister Prithviraj Chavan met the families in their respective residences when they returned home after immersing the ashes of the deceased leader in a river.On Wednesday, former state president of NCP (SP) Jayant Patil had revealed that he had several rounds of meetings with the late NCP chief to discuss the merger and a decision was to be made post-zilla parishad elections where the groups, like they did for the municipal corporation polls, have allied."The two NCPs are almost reunited. They came together for the civic body polls and the merger was only a formality. Ajitdada wanted it to happen, but now Pawar Saheb should take the lead and fulfil his unfinished dream," Zirwal added.NCP (SP) members said that a reunion decision should be taken by the Pawar family. Its state president Shashikant Shinde said, "Discussions were in the final stage when tragedy struck. Now, we feel that the Pawar family should sit together and make a decision on the merger. We will respect their decision."