What Sunetra Pawar’s 3-day rise reveals about power, numbers and fear

New Delhi: Three days is not much time to mourn in any family. In Maharashtra politics, it is often enough time to settle succession and secure control.

Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28. By January 31, his wife, Sunetra Pawar, replaced him as Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister.

Many people outside politics found the speed hard to accept. In many Indian homes, mourning rituals run for several days. Here, the political transition was set before condolence crowds had thinned out.

The obvious question is why the party did not wait a week. The answer lies in how coalitions behave when a top post falls vacant. A vacancy creates uncertainty, and uncertainty attracts pressure from every direction.

The official explanation was straightforward.

Sunetra Pawar’s name was proposed by senior leader Dilip Walse Patil and seconded by minister Chhagan Bhujbal. The meeting was held at Ajit Pawar’s office in the Vidhan Bhavan complex. Sunetra paid tributes to Ajit’s portrait, and several leaders were visibly emotional.

But politics often runs on what leaders do not say publicly. The decision looked like an attempt to close multiple risks quickly. The party moved fast so the vacuum would not become an opening.

Ajit Pawar was not only deputy CM. He also held the finance portfolio, which carries heavy political weight. Maharashtra’s budget calendar is tight, and finance is not a seat left unclear for long.

In coalition politics, a week can feel like a long time. It gives space for doubts to spread and for factions to test each other.

The second pressure point is control over MLAs. The legislature party leader is not a ceremonial position in a state like Maharashtra. It tells everyone who commands the numbers in the House and the party.

When a tall leader dies suddenly, the chain of command becomes unclear. MLAs start asking who they report to and who will protect them politically. Ministers start asking who will decide appointments and strategies.

If that clarity does not come quickly, a party looks “available” in political terms. Even without open rebellion, small signs of drift can grow quickly. A fast decision aims to shut that door.

The merger chatter added another layer to the urgency.

NewsDrum carried a report quoting Sharad Pawar as saying Ajit had planned an NCP merger meeting on February 12. After Ajit Pawar’s death, that narrative immediately became more complicated.

If any merger talks were under way, Ajit Pawar would have been central to them. Without him, the ability to deliver numbers becomes a question on its own. That is why Sunetra Pawar’s quick elevation did not read only as continuity. It also read as a signal that the Ajit camp still had a centre and a command line.

Some observers are already saying the merger may not happen now.

NewsDrum consulting editor Aurangzeb Naqshbandi wrote on X, “I doubt if it is going to happen now,” responding to NewsDrum’s merger post.

I doubt if it is going to happen now. https://t.co/2GKb2P4q68

— Aurangzeb Naqshbandi (@naqshzeb) January 31, 2026

People expect grief to bring a pause. Politics, however, treats grief as private and power as urgent.

That gap between public expectation and political behaviour is why the story has drawn such strong reactions.

It reinforces the public belief that politics runs on timetables, not emotions. It also shapes how voters see leaders who are treated as role models.

The decision also creates new pressure for Sunetra Pawar. A quick succession sends an unspoken message that continuity is assured.