Ajit Pawar (66), MaharashtraLongest serving Deputy Chief Minister died in an air crash On Wednesday (January 28, 2026) near his home in Baramati, his political career spanning four decades came to an abrupt end.
Affectionately known as ‘Ajit Dada’, the Pawar family had recently ended their rift with their guru and uncle Sharad Pawar. Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad will contest municipal elections together As Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). despite one Election defeat in PuneRecently, due to the meeting of uncle and nephew in Pune, there seems to be a possibility of merger of both the factions of NCP. Ajit Pawar is survived by his wife Sunetra Pawar (NCP’s Rajya Sabha MP) and his sons – Jai and Parth.
In his 44 years of public service, Ajit Pawar followed his uncle’s footsteps in politics – from sugar cooperatives in Baramati to six-time deputy chief minister of the state. Known as Maharashtra’s ‘Forever CM-in-waiting’, scandals, corruption and betrayal dogged his long political career as he transformed from his uncle’s shadow. rob their party With its iconic symbol – the clock.
Here’s a look at his political ups and downs:
1959–1980s: Pawar dynasty
Born on July 22, 1959, to Anantrao and Ashatai Pawar in Devlali town of Ahmednagar, Ajit Pawar was introduced to politics during the days of the ‘United Maharashtra’ movement. Being the uncle of then Congress leader Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar was destined to follow in his footsteps. His father’s untimely death forced him to leave college and take care of his family.
Like his uncle, Ajit Pawar started his career in the cooperative sector, heading a sugar factory, the Pune District Cooperative Bank, before contesting the elections from Baramati in 1991.
1991–1999: Cooperation in Maharashtra Cabinet
Following Mr. Pawar’s (Sharad Pawar) unsuccessful bid for the post of Prime Minister by the Congress following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, he accepted the national role as Defense Minister of the Congress. Defeating him in his stronghold Baramati, his nephew Ajit Pawar contested the 1991 by-election and won by 86,915 votes. Since then, Ajit Pawar has held the seat, even as he defeated his nephew Yugendra Srinivas Pawar by over a lakh votes in the 2024 elections. The younger Pawar had the support of the entire family, with even Sharad Pawar’s shy wife Pratibha campaigning for him.
During his uncle’s chief ministership, he held several portfolios such as agriculture, power, soil conservation, power and planning, gradually rising through the ranks of the Congress party, building his reputation as a detail-oriented politician.
As Mr Pawar (Sharad Pawar) shook the foundation of the oldest Congress party by breaking away and forming the NCP in 1999, Ajit Pawar followed him with prominent MLAs like Chhagan Bhujbal and Madhukar Pichad. He played an important role in keeping the flock together and forming the NCP-Congress alliance.
Look Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others killed in Baramati plane crash
2000–2014: Tenure as Deputy CM and irrigation scam
As Congress’s Vilasrao Deshmukh took charge as CM in 1999, Ajit Pawar took over the reins of the Irrigation Ministry and later the Water Resources Ministry. Under his leadership, several projects worth more than ₹70,000 crore were launched in the drought-hit Vidarbha region. In 2004, when Deshmukh was retained as CM, Ajit Pawar continued as Irrigation Minister, but was soon embroiled in a corruption scandal for circumventing norms in awarding contracts, increasing project costs, expenditure irregularities.
After Deshmukh stepped down as chief minister following the 26/11 attacks in 2008, Ajit Pawar retained his ministries and continued as guardian minister of Pune under new chief minister Ashok Chavan. In 2009, when the Congress-NCP was re-elected for the third time, Ajit Pawar added the Energy Ministry to his portfolio and was also sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister in 2010. He survived the collapse of the state government in 2012 due to the Adarsh ​​Housing scam, as the Congress replaced its CM Ashok Chavan with Union Minister of State Prithviraj Chavan as his successor. Additionally, he was given the Finance and Planning portfolios apart from Irrigation and Energy.
Known as a ‘no-nonsense, tough-talking, flamboyant’ politician, Ajit Pawar clashed with the new CM over his plans for redevelopment of Mumbai and the Lavasa project near Pune. As the state finance minister, he pulled up ministers to review their departments before budget preparation, increase sales tax revenue and detail agricultural reforms. As demands for a probe into the irrigation scam grew, Mr Chavan also placed Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank under administrators, angering Ajit Pawar and other senior NCP MLAs. At the NCP-level, Ajit Pawar played a key role in the party’s electoral success in district, panchayat samiti and municipal corporations across the state.
The 2012 State Economic Survey revealed that despite spending ₹70,000 crore on irrigation projects in the previous decade (1999–2009), only 0.1% of the state’s potential was utilised. Despite Mr Chavan promising to bring a ‘white paper’ on the issue, Ajit Pawar resigned from the Cabinet and the post of Deputy Chief Minister as the Irrigation Department revealed a loss of ₹15,000 crore in projects in Vidarbha, Konkan and North Maharashtra.
However, within a few months, the promised ‘white paper’ acquitted Ajit Pawar and NCP chief Sharad Pawar defended his nephew’s actions. In December 2012, he was reinstated as Deputy CM and given back his portfolio. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report revealed cost overruns of Rs 27,000 crore in 242 irrigation projects during Ajit Pawar’s tenure. However, in 2019, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) gave a clean chit to Ajit Pawar in several projects in Vidarbha, observing that his actions were not ‘malicious’.
2019-2023: Changing loyalties
After being in the opposition between 2014-2019, Ajit Pawar jumped into talks amid talks between Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to form an alliance with Devendra Fadnavis and take oath as the deputy CM. A day after the formation of the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance i.e. Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) when Mr Thackeray announced his CM post, Ajit Pawar prepared a letter declaring the support of all 54 NCP MLAs and extended support to the BJP.
On November 24, 2019, at 5:47 am, President Ram Nath Kovind revoked the President’s rule imposed in Maharashtra after the elections, after which Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as CMs at 7:50 am. The Hindu It was revealed that amidst the talks between NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena, BJP was already in talks with Ajit Pawar.
The Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government collapsed within three days as the Pawar patriarch managed to garner the support of 44 NCP MLAs, while the remaining nine (except Ajit Pawar) were arrested the next day and hidden in a Mumbai hotel. Once the Supreme Court ordered open ballot for the trust vote in the state assembly, Ajit Pawar once again changed sides and was immediately sworn in as the Deputy CM and given the guardianship of Pune as well as the Finance, Planning and State Excise departments.
2023–2026: Rebellion for reconciliation
In June 2022, Eknath Shinde rebelled, causing the Shiv Sena to split into two, taking away 38 of the 54 MLAs with him and reducing the Thackeray government to minority. Ajit Pawar’s fourth term as Deputy CM was short-lived as Mr Shinde was chosen as the Mahayuti CM, while Mr Fadnavis was chosen as his deputy.
On May 2, 2023, Sharad Pawar announced his intention to resign as NCP chief, and hinted at the promotion of Ajit Pawar to the role. However, three days later, Sharad Pawar withdrew his resignation citing ‘strong sentiments’ among the cadre, dissatisfying Ajit Pawar, who had been in the post since 2014. The final blow to his dreams of succeeding his uncle as NCP chief came on June 10, when Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar’s close aide Praful Patel were named as working presidents of the party.
A month later, Ajit Pawar rebelled again for the last time and took oath as Deputy CM for the fifth time. Ajit Pawar took over the Finance Ministry after breaking away from 32 NCP MLAs, while senior NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Atram Dharam Rao Baba Bhagwantrao, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode and Anil Patil were included in the Shinde cabinet. Later, Ajit Pawar declared himself NCP chief, saying, “For us, Saheb (Sharad Pawar) is a god, and we have deep respect for him. You are 83 years old, are you not going to stop? Give us your blessings.” His faction has also been recognized as NCP and has been awarded the clock symbol by the Election Commission of India. A case is going on in the Supreme Court on which faction NCP belongs to.
After the grand alliance of BJP-Sena-NCP won the 2024 state elections, Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy CM for the sixth time, surpassing his own record as the longest serving Deputy of the state. Although his faction failed to defeat his uncle’s faction NCP-Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP) in the Lok Sabha elections, the Ladki Bahin Yojana led to victory for Mahayuti, with NCP winning 29 out of 36 seats where the two factions clashed.
Amidst the discontent among the Sena, BJP and RSS workers over the clash of ideologies with the NCP, Ajit Pawar started distancing himself from several communal statements made by BJP leaders. In a last ditch effort to regain his territory, Ajit Pawar formed an alliance with the NCP (SP) for the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic elections. Both Ms Sule and Ajit Pawar presented a united front and unveiled their joint manifesto for both the corporations. As senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare hinted at a merger of the two factions at the national level, the Pawar family’s efforts were doomed. BJP defeated NCP by winning 119 out of 165 seats in Pune and 84 out of 128 seats in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
With the tragic death of Ajit Pawar, the future of his faction is in question as Sharad Pawar now remains the most influential leader of NCP.
