“I additionally thanked him (Ajit Pawar) for calling me at 7 am on my birthday on January 20, as he does yearly. I additionally informed him that I’d be ready by the telephone at 7 am on January 20, 2027,” Myrtle stated.
Sadly, that telephone name not comes.
Ajit Pawar, 66, died early Wednesday morning when his non-public airplane crashed in Baramati, the Pawar household’s stronghold. Two crew members and two employees members (a private safety guard and an attendant) had been killed within the accident.
He will probably be generally known as the longest-serving deputy CM of Maharashtra to this point, albeit non-consecutively. He occupied that workplace six instances. And he nurtured an ambition to guide the state from the entrance and take up the submit of CM, a want that continues to be unfulfilled.
“He was a terrific orator. At present, Maharashtra is saddened. He needed to be the CM. If he had develop into the CM, Maharashtra would have had a superb administrator, however sadly he couldn’t be that,” Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena informed reporters.
CM Devendra Fadnavis remembered Ajit Pawar as follows:Damdal“(highly effective)” and “blissful(beneficiant) Then again, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde described him as follows:Rokutoku‘ He’s an sincere one who does not maintain again on his phrases.
Mantralaya bureaucrats keep in mind Pawar as probably the most attended politician within the secretariat. Except he is touring for work, he is within the workplace at 8 a.m. each day. The bureaucrats who labored with him had been within the behavior of beginning their days very early, as he would name individuals for appointments as early as 6 a.m. and even schedule web site visits for five or 6 a.m.
In an interview with ThePrint forward of the 2024 state meeting polls, Shinde, who was then CM and is now deputy CM, stated: dadaDevendraji (CM Devendra Fadnavis) and I are operating the federal government 24×7. ”
“Ajit dada He works early morning, Devendraji is there in the course of the day and I work evening shift,” stated Shinde, referring to his behavior of working until late at evening.
Additionally learn: Why Ajit Pawar’s battle in Pune evokes flashbacks of the 2017 Bharatiya Janata Social gathering vs. Shiv Sena battle in Mumbai
The phenomenon of “Ajit Dada”
Ajit Pawar was fairly completely different from his uncle Sharad Pawar and cousin Supriya Sule in the way in which he carried himself in public.
Deep frowns, harsh phrases and impolite dismissals in the direction of his followers had been all a part of the ‘Ajit’ package deal. dada” It was.
His most controversial remark so far – “Ought to we pee to fill empty dams” – got here in April 2013, at a time when distressed farmers had been complaining to him about extreme water shortages, a gaffe attributable to this very angle. He later apologized for “hurting individuals’s emotions.”
His brash and naive manner of talking acquired me into such awkward conditions many instances. Final 12 months, he reprimanded a younger IPS officer, Anjana Krishna, who had taken motion towards unlawful sand mining. Pawar is alleged to have had a telephone name with Krishna, a video of which went viral, through which he scolded Krishna for taking motion towards unlawful soil excavation in Solapur village.
“Why did you go to this point??… Essential teleoper motion longa (Why are you taking such a daring step? I’ll take motion towards you),” he allegedly stated over the telephone, to which she reportedly requested, “How do I do know if this name is actually from Deputy CM?”
On the time, celebration leaders defended Ajit Pawar and stated it was simply “the way in which he speaks”.
Late final 12 months, he got here beneath hearth for firing at farmers in Marathwada who misplaced their crops in floods.
The deputy CM was assembly flood-affected farmers within the village of Growth Paranda taluk in Darashiv district. When one farmer requested him if the federal government would declare mortgage waiver for them, he stated, “Why not make him the prime minister? Do not you assume we perceive? Have we come to play?” Gotcha (Marbles)? I have been working since 6am. You are attempting to suppress the voices of working individuals. ”
NCP members near him say they see the person past the cruel phrases.
“Truly, Ajith dada as candy as oh lace (Mango juice) is on my plate,” the NCP chief as soon as informed ThePrint in Gujarati. Thali (meal).
Ajit Pawar’s political journey
Ajit Pawar entered politics in 1991 when he was elected chairman of Pune District Cooperative Financial institution.
In the identical 12 months, he received the Lok Sabha election from Baramati within the Lok Sabha elections. He gave up the seat for his uncle to be elected and as an alternative contested the Baramati MLA seat in the identical 12 months. He has served his district in Congress ever since.
Many initially hailed Ajit Pawar as a possible successor, partly as a result of he was the one member of the Pawar household to be concerned in politics, however that concept was shaken by Sule’s entry into politics in 2006.
Ajit Pawar regularly rose by way of the ranks, serving as junior minister, cupboard minister and deputy chief minister beneath a number of CMs of the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and now the Bharatiya Janata Social gathering.
If undivided NCP founder Sharad Pawar was stated to be the subsequent chief minister, his nephew, who had brazenly expressed his ambition to occupy the highest submit within the Maharashtra authorities, was the subsequent chief minister.
The closest he got here to the submit was most likely in 2004, when the NCP received 71 seats in Maharashtra towards the Meeting’s 69, however the former gave up its proper to the CM submit and as an alternative negotiated for a number of key sectors.
In an interview with a Marathi tv channel, Ajit Pawar admitted that this was a miscalculation by his celebration colleagues. IBN LokmatFebruary 2024.
Maybe the deepest blemish in Ajit Pawar’s whole political profession is the alleged Rs 70,000-crore irrigation rip-off through which he allegedly inflated the worth of a dam development contract when he was water sources minister. The allegations led to his resignation from the Maharashtra cupboard in 2012. In December 2019, the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau got here clear to him in regards to the matter.
Additionally learn: Intra-party struggles resulted in an sudden tie between Mr. Mahayuti and the MVA in some seats. How did they fare in Maharashtra?
rebellious nephew
In response to legend, there are these phrases:Kaka Mala Vachuva” “Uncle, assist me” can nonetheless be heard at evening echoing off the partitions of Shaniwar Wada in Pune, the seat of the Peshwa household.
Again within the 1700s, Maharashtra noticed probably the most brutal uncle-nephew feuds when Raghunathrao, who aspired to the throne, plotted the assassination of his nephew Narayanrao, the ninth Peshwa, and ignored his cries for assist.
Sport of Thrones carried over into fashionable politics, but it surely wasn’t as brutal because the Raghunatrao-Narayanrao battle. In Maharashtra politics, there are various rifts between uncles and nephews, resembling Bal Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, Gopinath Munde and Dhananjay Munde, and even Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar.
In Maharashtra’s political corridors, speak of discord within the Pawar household over Sharad Pawar’s political legacy has sporadically come up since 2006, when Sule formally entered politics by operating within the parliamentary by-election in Baramati, Pawar’s stronghold.
Nevertheless, issues over succession didn’t escalate into open battle till 2019.
That 12 months, Ajit Pawar was with the then undivided Shiv Sena and Congress leaders until round 11 pm on November 22. Plans to type a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) authorities beneath Uddhav Thackeray have been formally formulated. However leaders had been shocked when footage of Ajit Pawar within the Raj Bhawan began doing rounds within the early hours of November 23, whereas it was nonetheless darkish.
Ajit Pawar fashioned the federal government in collaboration with the BJP for 72 hours and returned to the MVA camp as NCP MLAs who had initially supported him returned to Sharad Pawar’s camp one after the other. Regardless of some reservations, Ajit Pawar was given the submit of deputy CM.
And in 2023, Ajit Pawar ripped off the bandaid. He left the Sharad Pawar-led celebration with a majority of NCP MLAs and joined palms with the Mahayuti alliance of the BJP and Shinde’s Shiv Sena, claiming he was the actual NCP. In the identical authorities, he assumed the submit of Deputy CM, first beneath CM Shinde after which after the 2024 Meeting polls, beneath CM Fadnavis.
In his first present of energy within the aftermath of the open rise up, Pawar clearly expressed the unease he felt inside the Sharad Pawar-led celebration.
Talking on the first assembly of celebration rank-and-file members after taking oath as Mahayuti’s deputy CM, he stated:Amhi konacha poti janmara alo, hiyat ke chukku ahe amchi? (How can it’s our fault that we had been born in another person’s womb?)
He needed to show that he not solely commanded the NCP staff and voters in Maharashtra, but additionally the Pawar household stronghold in Baramati, the crown jewel of each NCPs. Subsequently, he launched his spouse Sunetra Pawar into the world of politics and pitted her towards her cousin Sule within the 2024 Sabah polls, however Sunetra Pawar misplaced. She was later accepted as Rajya Sabha member.
The individuals of Baramati had been torn aside, in order that they selected to take care of the established order. Sule was elected as MP and Ajit Pawar as MLA. Sule defeated his nephew Yugendra Pawar within the state elections in late 2024, successful within the second spherical in his house state.
On this election, Ajit Pawar additionally received 41 out of 54 seats that his celebration contested, in comparison with 10 seats for NCP led by Sharad Pawar, firmly establishing the NCP’s superiority over Sharad Pawar.
In that election, Ajit Pawar appeared in a totally completely different avatar, sporting an onion pink jacket, shaking palms with voters and recording a social media reel.
“In 2014, when the Modi wave swept the nation and social media turned a brand new phenomenon, Ajith stated: dada He as soon as referred to as me at his official bungalow at 6 a.m., as traditional, and requested me about social media. I gave him some concepts. After that there was a gathering, after which Ajit dada “He does not consider in all this and does not have to,” a Mumbai-based political marketing consultant informed ThePrint.
“Ten years later, that Ajit dada Now we have employed a whole company for media promotion and branding,” he added.
Mahayuti’s internal restlessness
Recently, there was a scarcity of management within the Mahayuti, with a fierce energy wrestle going down between the highest three leaders Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar. Because the second Mahayuti authorities got here to energy, two ministers from Ajit Pawar’s celebration needed to resign.
Dhananjay Munde resigned in March 2025 after his right-hand man was arrested in a case associated to the sarpanch homicide in Beas district.
Manikrao Kokate, who was first disqualified from the agricultural sector after repeated FMD circumstances, resigned in December 2025 after a Nashik court docket confirmed his conviction in a 1995 case.
Furthermore, the land grabbing allegations towards Ajit Pawar’s son Parth in November 2025 and CM Fadnavis’ swift response to ordering an inquiry into it additionally weakened Ajit Pawar’s place inside the Mahayuti.
Native physique polls for councils and firms throughout Maharashtra have been notably robust to battle as an alliance, sparking speak that there’s a actual chance of the 2 NCPs reuniting, which Ajit Pawar didn’t deny when requested repeatedly in an interview.
In municipal polls this month, the Bharatiya Janata Social gathering and Shinde’s Shiv Sena had been nonetheless tied in some locations, however conventional rival Ajit Pawar’s NCP is more and more being seen as a 3rd wheel.
When the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP determined to contest the Chinchwad Company polls in Pune and Pimpri as a “pleasant battle”, it was Ajit Pawar who first stormed the pitch, combating native leaders of the BJP over corruption. He fought elections in alliance with Sharad Pawar-led NCP and put all his efforts into Pune district, however was finally dissatisfied and defeated.
His debilitating defeat in Pune and embarrassing defeat in Pimpri-Chinchwad shaved inches off his political standing because the BJP took a decisive lead in each these city our bodies.
“Ajit Pawar’s assist construction in Pune district included native elites, landowning Marathas. After 1999, these political households left the Congress, acted towards Suresh Kalmadi and joined the NCP. After 2014, they left the NCP and joined the BJP. So the individuals who introduced them victory are the identical. They simply modified their celebration,” stated Nitin Virmal, Dr. Ambedkar’s affiliate professor in Pune. College of Arts and Commerce informed ThePrint.
“Ajit Pawar’s facilities of city energy had been primarily Pune, Ahilyanagar and Solapur, however most of them have collapsed. This may trigger him to lose bargaining energy inside the Mahayuti,” Birmal stated after the January 16 civic ballot outcomes.
Ignoring the defeat, Ajit Pawar began preparations for voting in 125 panchayat samitis and 12 zilla parishads on February 5, with each the NCPs deciding to contest elections collectively once more. On Wednesday, he was on his technique to Baramati to attend some scheduled election rallies.
To MLAs near him, Ajit Pawar was a ‘perfectionist’.
In an interview with ThePrint, an NCP MLA recalled that in 2022, when Ajit Pawar was finance minister within the MVA authorities, he commissioned the development of the Chhatrapati Sambhaji monument (son of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji) in Vadhu Budruk village in Pune district and was personally concerned in each element of the challenge from its design.
Ajit Pawar’s supporters agree that the chief had no nationwide ambitions. He was not as fluent in English and Hindi as Sule, and didn’t have the equal relationships with nationwide leaders that she did.
All he needed was to regulate Maharashtra politically and administratively. That dream started to recede amid political turmoil in Maharashtra, an influence wrestle among the many Mahayutis, and native ballot outcomes. It was worn out on Wednesday.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Additionally learn: Why Ajit Pawar does not need to assist his son Parth in his battle towards land fraud allegations
