Set to be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, Sunetra Pawar, wife of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar, on Friday said she will be happy to accept any offer of berth in the Union Council of Ministers and strive to make most of the opportunity.
She said her party Nationalist Congress Party is doing an introspection of her loss in the Baramati Lok Sabha seat in Pune district and will take corrective measures post the analysis.
Sunetra Pawar lost to her sister-in-law and NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar MP Supriya Sule in the western Maharashtra constituency.
On Thursday, she filed her nomination papers in Mumbai as the NCP candidate for a Rajya Sabha bypoll in the state. Since she is the only candidate in the fray, Sunetra Pawar is set to be elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament.
She was accorded a grand welcome by local NCP unit when she arrived in Pune.
Asked by reporters if she will accept an offer of berth in the central ministry, she said, "Of course, if given a chance, I will surely seize the opportunity."
The NCP, headed by Ajit Pawar, a Bharatiya Janata Party ally, currently has no representation in the new BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre which was sworn-in on Sunday last.
The NCP turned down the BJP's offer to accommodate senior leader Praful Patel as a minister of state with independent charge in the new NDA government.
Sunetra Pawar said during campaigning in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, a stronghold of the Pawar family, she received tremendous response from people, but ultimately voters' verdict has to be accepted.
"We are doing an introspection (of the loss in Baramati) of what exactly happened and after the analysis, corrective measures will be taken," she emphasised.
Sunetra Pawar thanked the NCP's senior leadership and party workers for giving her an opportunity to enter the Rajya Sabha. -- PTI