The sudden death of a powerful political leader has created a significant vacuum in Maharashtra, India’s richest state.
Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, died on Wednesday in a plane crash along with four others.
Maharashtra’s political landscape is famously complex—a maze of shifting alliances, regional loyalties, and long-standing rivalries. For decades, Ajit Pawar navigated this terrain with pragmatism and political sharpness, rising rapidly through the ranks.
Behind his public success, however, lay a deeply personal struggle: stepping out of the long shadow cast by his uncle, Sharad Pawar, the founder of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and one of India’s most influential political figures.
Born in 1959, Ajit Pawar entered politics in the 1980s under his uncle’s mentorship. He focused primarily on Baramati, the Pawar family’s stronghold in western Maharashtra, where sugar cooperatives, banks, and local institutions formed the backbone of economic power and political loyalty.
From early on, Ajit Pawar was seen as Sharad Pawar’s political heir. Yet he was determined to build an identity of his own.
Sharad Pawar embodied old-style authority—patient, strategic, and renowned for his coalition-building skills. Ajit Pawar, by contrast, concentrated on regional dominance, administrative control, and grassroots political networks. Blunt and practical, his mercurial personality won him devoted supporters as well as outspoken critics.
As his influence expanded, so did his frustration. Although he rose quickly within the NCP, he was often perceived as a subordinate rather than a decision-maker. Key choices continued to rest with his uncle.
Years of tension finally erupted in 2019, when Ajit Pawar stunned Maharashtra politics by briefly breaking away from the NCP and aligning with the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government and claim the post of deputy chief minister. The move collapsed within days after Sharad Pawar intervened, reclaimed control of the party, and helped form an alternative government.
Though Ajit Pawar returned to the party, the rift never truly healed.
The final break came in 2023, when he split from his uncle’s faction of the NCP, joined a BJP-led governing coalition, and once again became deputy chief minister. This time, he also succeeded in dividing the party and securing the NCP name and electoral symbol for his faction. From that point on, family ties visibly frayed: joint appearances became rare, private gatherings dwindled, and the once-unified Pawar power base fractured into rival camps.
Supporters viewed Ajit Pawar’s defection as a long-overdue and bold move—proof of his political adaptability in a system where former adversaries often join forces to gain power. Critics, however, saw it as emblematic of opportunistic politics.
The split became one of Maharashtra’s most dramatic political sagas, reshaping alliances and fault lines across the state.
In recent days, following civic elections in Pune and Mumbai, speculation had grown about a possible reconciliation between the two NCP factions led by uncle and nephew. Some even suggested Ajit Pawar could emerge as the leader of a reunited party.
His sudden death has brought those discussions to an abrupt end. Questions now loom over whether the lawmakers who followed him will accept the leadership of his cousin, Supriya Sule—Sharad Pawar’s daughter—or rally behind his wife or son, and whether the delicate alliances he built can survive without him.
Ajit Pawar leaves behind a deeply divided political legacy—one that underscores how personal ambition and family relationships can shape politics in unexpected and far-reaching ways.