Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and NCP chief, Ajit Pawar, died in a plane crash on Wednesday, Jan 28. He was travelling from Mumbai to Baramati to attend public meetings ahead of the local body polls next month when tragedy struck. Four others, including Pawar's security personnel, pilots and crew, also died in the crash. The aircraft, a Learjet 45, was operated by a company named VSR.
The 66-year-old was the nephew of NCP founder Sharad Pawar and the cousin of Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule. He is survived by his wife Sunetra and two sons - Parth and Jay.
Who Was Ajit Pawar?
Born on Jul. 22, 1959, in Deolali Pravara in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, Ajit Pawar was the son of Sharad Pawar's older brother, Anantrao. During the early phase in his career, Pawar rose through the cooperative movement and entered public life under his uncle's mentorship.
In 1982, Pawar ventured into the cooperative sector and bagged a seat on the board of a local sugar factory. Soon after, Pawar, who described the cooperative movement as the “backbone of rural Maharashtra," emerged as a leading figure.
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He also served as chairman of Pune District Central Cooperative Bank for about 16 years.
Long Politics Innings
Pawar marked his presence in national politics in 1991, when he secured a win from the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. Soon after, Pawar resigned from the seat to allow Sharad Pawar to contest from there after he was inducted into the Union Cabinet under the leadership of Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao.
Over time, Pawar shifted his focus toward the state Assembly. In 1995, he was elected from the Baramati Assembly seat that was represented by his uncle for decades. He went on to retain the seat in consecutive polls in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019, establishing it as one of the most secure constituencies in the state.
In 1999, when Sharad Pawar parted ways with the Congress to establish the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Ajit was elevated to the Maharashtra Cabinet after serving as a junior minister for over nine years.
Popularly known as 'Dada,' Ajit held several key portfolios, such as Irrigation, Rural Development, Water Resources and Finance in the Maharashtra government.
Ajit broke ranks with the party leadership in 2004 after NCP conceded the Chief Minister's post to Congress, despite emerging as the single-largest party. In 2012, he even stepped down as the Deputy Chief Minister over allegations connected to irrigation projects. At that time, Sharad Pawar intervened to prevent the collapse of the government.
Similarly, Ajit briefly resigned as MLA ahead of the 2019 Assembly elections in Maharashtra when the Enforcement Directorate named him and Sharad Pawar in a money laundering case related to the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank.
Ajit staged a big political move in November 2019 when NCP was negotiating with Congress and Shiv Sena. He broke away and formed a government with the BJP, as Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar was named Deputy Chief Minister. However, the government collapsed within a few days, since Ajit Pawar lacked the support of the NCP legislature party.
Soon, he returned to the NCP and reconciled with his uncle. He became the Deputy CM in the Maha Vikas Aghadi in December 2019 and remained a central figure in the government.
In July 2023, Ajit Pawar decided to split the NCP and joined the Mahayuti government after receiving support from a large group of MLAs. This divided the NCP into two factions, with the Election Commission later recognising the Ajit Pawar faction as the official NCP and granting it the party name and symbol. Meanwhile, the group led by Sharad Pawar was named 'NCP (SP)'.
During the 2024 Assembly elections, Ajit Pawar-led NCP bagged 41 of the 59 seats it contested.
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