"Sunetra Vahini should get post of MoS in Modi 3.0": NCP leader Deepak Mankar
Jun 13, 2024
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 13 : After the allocation of portfolios under the Modi 3.0 cabinet, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Deepak Mankar on Thursday said that party leader Sunetra Pawar should get the post of Minister of State (MoS).
Earlier, the NCP, another ally in the NDA, demanded a cabinet post. Expressing dissatisfaction ahead of Modi's swearing-in ceremony, the NCP turned down the alliance's offer to hand over the post of MoS to party leader Praful Patel, referring to it as "demotion".
"Cabinet mein MoS ka pad NCP ke liye hai, jo Sunetra Vahini ko hi milna chahiye (There's a post of MoS for the NCP in the cabinet, sister Sunetra should get that)", Kankar said while speaking to ANI.
Deepak Kankar also reacted to Sunetra Pawar's nomination for the Rajya Sabha.
"She will be before us as an MP. She will do good work for Maharashtra, for the Pune district, and for Baramati. She has worked with Dada (Ajit Pawar) for 40 years so she will do good work...I think the workers are very happy", said the NCP leader.
Earlier today, Sunetra Pawar, filed her nomination for the upcoming Rajya Sabha bye-election at Vidhan Bhawan in Mumbai.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that she will live up to the party's trust.
"It is a matter of happiness that our party has shown faith in us, we will live up to their trust and do good work as a good public representative... Everyone has wished us luck," Sunetra told reporters.
NCP leader Praful Patel said that the party has informed the allies of their decision on nominating Sunetra Pawar for Rajya Sabha by-elections.
"After careful thinking, we have nominated Sunetra Pawar for Rajya Sabha by-elections. We informed our allies about our decision," he said.
Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal expressed that the party's core group unanimously decided to nominate Sunetra Pawar for the Rajya Sabha seat.
"Several people, including me, wanted that seat but after discussions, we have decided that Sunetra Pawar should be sent to the Rajya Sabha. I am not at all upset by this decision. This decision was made in the interest of the party," Bhujbal told reporters in Mumbai.
The bye-election was necessitated by the resignation of NCP leader Praful Patel two years into his tenure, who was re-elected in February this year.
The election is scheduled for June 26, with today being the last date for filing nominations.
Sunetra Pawar, who recently lost the Lok Sabha election from Baramati to her sister-in-law and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, was chosen following a resolution by the NCP (Ajit Pawar) Pune unit.
Supriya Sule emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha polls from the Baramati seat defeating National Congress Party's Sunetra Ajitdada Pawar. Sule polled 7,32,312 votes while Sunetra Pawar garnered 5,73,979 votes.
Pune unit of the NCP (Ajit Pawar) passed a resolution demanding that Sunetra Pawar be sent to the Rajya Sabha and be made a minister in the central government.