Long absent from frontline politics, Sunetra Pawar now finds herself at the centre of a leadership transition following her husband Ajit Pawar’s death.

Syria is expected participation at the India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting could mark the first ministerial-level contact with New Delhi in years.

The decision to make Sunetra Pawar Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra was taken by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the family was not consulted, said Ajit Pawar’s uncle and NCP-SP Chief, Sharad Pawar.