Why Ajit Pawar was fondly called the ‘dada of Maharashtra politics’

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is no more. The 66-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief was on board a private plane, along with four others, when it crash landed at the Baramati airport on Wednesday (January 28) morning.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), “as per initial information, no person on board has survived the crash”. Besides Pawar, his PSO, an attendant and two crew members — pilot in-command and the first officer  — were flying in the Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Aviation, from Mumbai to Baramati when the accident took place.

Tributes have poured in from across the political spectrum, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembering Ajit Pawar as a “leader of the people, having a strong grassroots level connect”. The NCP chief is survived by his wife Sunetra, a Rajya Sabha MP, and two sons, Parth and Jay.

Shri Ajit Pawar Ji was a leader of the people, having a strong grassroots level connect. He was widely respected as a hardworking personality at the forefront of serving the people of Maharashtra. His understanding of administrative matters and passion for empowering the poor and… pic.twitter.com/mdgwwGzw4R— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 28, 2026

We take a closer look.

Ajit Pawar: Made for politics

Ajit Pawar reshaped Maharashtra’s politics over the decades.

He was born on July 22, 1959, in Deolali Pravara, a village in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, to Anantrao Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s elder brother.

His upbringing helped him better understand the issues of farmers and the agricultural community in the state, strengthening his rural connection.

Politics was in Ajit Pawar’s blood. His uncle and NCP patriarch, Sharad Pawar, was a popular Congress leader by the time Ajit took the political plunge.

Ajit Pawar’s political career

Like other family members, Ajit’s political innings began with the cooperative sector. At 23, he was elected to the board of a cooperative sugar factory.

Ajit entered electoral politics in 1991 by winning the family seat of Baramati in the Lok Sabha polls. However, he resigned and made way for his uncle, Sharad Pawar, who was inducted into the Union Cabinet under Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.

Ajit moved back to state politics. He was made the Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Power in Maharashtra and was later allotted the Water Supply and Planning portfolios.

In 1995, Ajit was elected to the Maharashtra Assembly from Baramati and went on to retain the seat in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024 elections.

Ajit Pawar was mentored by his uncle, Sharad, who had broken away from the Congress to float the Nationalist Congress Party in 1999.

The Congress-NCP alliance formed the government in Maharashtra in 1999. Ajit took charge of the heavyweight irrigation ministry. Over the years, he also held important portfolios of Rural Development, Water Resources, Power, and Finance.

Ajit emerged as one of Maharashtra’s most powerful politicians, with the leader building a strong organisational network across the state, especially in western Maharashtra, as per India(BHARAT)n Express. 

Ajit was first appointed as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 2010 in the government of Prithviraj Chavan. The NCP leader held the post since then, regardless of which side was in power.

Stepping away from uncle’s shadow

In recent years, Ajit Pawar rose out of his uncle’s mighty shadow to make his mark in Maharashtra’s political landscape.

With his strong command over party organisation and room for little dissent, Ajit developed a loyal group of leaders within the NCP. However, his rise brought tensions within the Pawar family.

The junior Pawar believed he was the natural political heir of his uncle, as per India(BHARAT)n Express.

Speculations about Sharad Pawar’s successor gained momentum after his daughter Supriya Sule entered electoral politics in 2009. The entry of Ajit’s nephew, Rohit Pawar, into electoral politics further fuelled the succession rumours.

When Supriya Sule was appointed as the NCP’s working president, Ajit Pawar had said: “What is my fault? That I was born to someone else?”

In 2004, Ajit publicly disagreed with the party leadership’s decision to concede chief ministership to the Congress even after emerging as the single-largest party.

Known as Dada (elder brother in Marathi) among his supporters, he resigned as Deputy Chief Minister after allegations regarding irrigation projects. The move threatened the stability of the Congress-NCP government, leading to the intervention of Sharad Pawar, who staved off its collapse.

In 2019, after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) called him in connection with the Maharashtra state cooperative bank scam, Ajit offered to resign as an MLA.

As per The Hindu, Ajit Pawar constantly felt he was “suppressed” and “denied” his ultimate destiny to occupy the coveted Maharashtra Chief Minister post, as he believed he was “unjustly and repeatedly denied” opportunities by Sharad Pawar since 2004.

Ajit Pawar’s “deep-seated bitterness” triggered his revolt against his uncle. In November 2019, when the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Devendra Fadnavis became the Maharashtra CM in an early-morning oath ceremony, Ajit supported his government.

The BJP-NCP government, however, lasted just three days before Ajit returned to the NCP fold.

After Uddhav Thackeray came to power in Maharashtra in an alliance with the Congress and then the undivided NCP, Ajit returned as the Deputy CM.

Ajit’s final rebellion came in 2023 when he split the NCP, taking away 40 MLAs as he joined the Mahayuti government. Fadnavis, who enjoys cordial relations with Ajit, was seen to be behind the NCP leader’s rebellion.

At the time, Ajit said he was being unjustly portrayed as a villain and recommended that senior Pawar retire from politics.

The Election Commission later recognised the Ajit Pawar faction as the official NCP and granted it the party name and symbol.

Ajit’s real test came during the 2024 elections. Of the five seats allotted to the NCP in the Lok Sabha polls, the party managed to win only one.

With critics blaming the NCP for the Mahayuti’s poor performance in the general elections in the state, Ajit Pawar had a tough task at hand — to prove his party was the“real” NCP.

And he not only proved but outdid himself. The NCP bagged 41 of the 59 seats, with Ajit returning as Maharashtra’s Deputy CM for a record sixth time.

The NCP chief’s ambition for the chief ministerial post remained unfulfilled. The Baramati strongman, however, had not given up. In July 2023, while attacking his uncle, Ajit Pawar said: “I became Deputy CM five times, which itself is a record. I want to become Chief Minister one day and implement my own plans for the people’s welfare.”

With inputs from agencies