Sunetra Pawar sworn in as Maharashtra deputy CM: Wives who stepped in after powerful husbands to continue political legacy

Sunetra Pawar on Saturday replaced her late husband Ajit Pawar and sworn in as the deputy chief minister in Maharashtra cabinet.This comes just days after Ajit Pawar was killed in a plane crash while traveling to Baramati from Mumbai. Sunetra was elected the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) legislature party leader earlier in the day during a meeting held in the city. The NCP, a key constituent of the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra, submitted a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis confirming Sunetra Pawar’s election as the party’s legislature leader.Sunetra Pawar will assume all portfolios previously held by her late husband, with the exception of the finance ministry. Indian politics has witnessed several instances where women leaders have stepped in to carry forward their husband’s political legacy, often under difficult circumstances.Rabri Devi, a prominent leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar, became the state's first female chief minister on July 25, 1997, following the resignation of her husband, Lalu Prasad Yadav, due to his involvement in the fodder scam. She held this position until 2005, also winning the 2000 assembly elections.Sonia Gandhi entered politics in 1997, following her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s 1991 assassination. She became Congress president in 1998, leading the UPA to general election victories in 2004 and 2009.Deepa Dasmunsi of the Congress won the Raiganj Lok Sabha seat in 2009 after her husband, senior leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, slipped into a coma in 2008, consolidating and retaining his political base in West Bengal.Ranjana Kul, representing the NCP in Maharashtra, entered the state assembly from Daund in 2004 following the death of her husband Subhashrao Kul, later vacating the seat for her son Rahul.Madhuri Misal, a BJP leader from Pune, won the Parvati assembly constituency in 2009 after the murder of her husband Satish Misal, a corporator, and later went on to become Pune BJP chief.Runu Mete, a Trinamool Congress candidate, contested the Indus assembly seat in West Bengal during the 2021 elections after her husband Gurupada Mete died mid-campaign, drawing strong sympathy support.Sandhya Desai-Kuperkar, of the NCP, briefly held an assembly seat as a proxy candidate following the death of her husband Babasaheb Kuperkar.Rita Verma, Congress leader from Jharkhand and a four-term Dhanbad MP who rose politically following her husband’s setbacks, later becoming a Union minister.