Sunetra Pawar’s elevation comes days after the sudden demise of senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in Baramati.

Piyush Goyal said neither Sunetra Pawar nor senior NCP leader Praful Patel had conveyed any information about a pending merger.

On Wednesday morning, NCP chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash. Just three days later, on Saturday evening, his wife Sunetra Pawar is set to take the oath as Deputy Chief Minister.