Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar to take oath as Maharashtra's new Deputy CM
Mumbai: Two days after the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is set to see a leadership transition, with his wife, Sunetra Pawar, likely to take over as deputy chief minister and assume a larger role in the party.
Sources said Sunetra Pawar, currently a Rajya Sabha member, is expected to take oath as Maharashtra deputy chief minister on Saturday. The move comes amid discussions within the NCP on assigning her a more prominent leadership role following Ajit Pawar’s demise.
Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal said a meeting of the NCP legislature party has been convened on Saturday, during which Sunetra Pawar will be named as its leader. “Many leaders want her to become the deputy chief minister,” Bhujbal told reporters.
According to sources, Sunetra Pawar is likely to be allocated the Excise and Sports portfolios, while the Finance portfolio will be handled by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Bhujbal said Fadnavis has conveyed that he has no objection to Sunetra Pawar’s oath-taking as deputy chief minister.
Sunetra Pawar is currently a Rajya Sabha MP of the Nationalist Congress Party and is not a member of either House of the Maharashtra legislature. However, the Baramati Assembly seat has fallen vacant following Ajit Pawar’s death, from where she is likely to contest the assembly by-polls.
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CM launches poster campaign 'Justice for Karnataka'
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday released nine posters as part of a campaign: ‘Justice for Karnataka. Fair Share–Strong Federalism’ asking the Centre to heed state's demands.
These posters highlight key demands placed before the Finance Commission: Restoring Karnataka’s fair tax share; correcting unjust income, population and GSDP criteria; ensuring fair disaster and ecological support; strengthening decentralisation; providing dedicated infrastructure support for Bengaluru; supporting backward regions like Kalyana Karnataka; and upholding the constitutional spirit of cooperative federalism, Siddaramaiah said.
In a statement, Siddaramaiah said his government has placed its legitimate and constitutionally grounded demands before the 16th Finance Commission, seeking justice in tax devolution and fiscal federalism.
“We hope that the 16th Finance Commission reflects these concerns fairly in its recommendations, and that the Union Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi implements them in letter and spirit, without subjecting Karnataka to petty politics or discrimination, as has unfortunately happened in the past,” the chief minister said.
Siddaramaiah underlined that Karnataka is among the country’s highest contributors to national revenues, yet its share in tax devolution was earlier reduced from 4.71 per cent to 3.64 per cent causing a loss of nearly Rs 80,000 crore.
"Flawed formulas that penalise development and population control, unrealistic GSDP calculations, inadequate disaster support, unchecked cesses and surcharges, denial of GST compensation, and non-release of recommended grants have collectively weakened the state’s finances," Siddaramaiah charged.
