Ajit Pawar dies: The rebel ‘dada' at the centre of Maharashtra's recent political storms

Ajit Pawar dies in plane crash: Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, died on Wednesday, 28 January, after the aircraft he was travelling in crashed while attempting to land at Baramati in Maharashtra, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed. Ajit Pawar was 66.

The plane was carrying six passengers at the time of the crash, along with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, his security personnel and the pilots, according to the preliminary reports.

Born in 1959, Ajit Anantrao Pawar was a senior politician and a prominent leader in Maharashtra. Pawar served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a position he has held multiple times. A senior leader originally from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), he aligned with the BJP-Shiv Sena government in 2023 after defecting from the NCP faction led by his uncle, the veteran NCP leader Sharad Pawar.

Ajit Pawar's death comes at a time when reports suggested a potential thaw between the two warring factions of the NCP, with speculation about his possible return to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.

Just last week, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had expressed hope that Ajit Pawar would merge his faction with the NCP led by Sharad Pawar.

“Though Ajit Pawar is part of the Mahayuti alliance, he remains connected with the MVA. Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar will reunite as part of the MVA. Ajit Pawar cannot sit on two stools,” Raut had said.

Who was Ajit Pawar?

Ajit Pawar was popularly known as ‘dada’ - a term of respect — for his long career and grassroots connect. Ajit was considered a powerful leader from Baramati with deep roots in cooperative societies, banking and agriculture. Pawar began his political career in the 1980s.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sorrow over Ajit Pawar’s death and hailed him as ‘leader of the people’, having a strong grassroots-level connection. "His untimely demise is very shocking and saddening. Condolences to his family and countless admirers,” the PM said.

Ajit Pawar was the longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, serving non-consecutively. He served in the position for six terms under various governments. He served in the cabinets of the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.

Pawar also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2022 to 2023.

Political Career

Pawar began his political journey through cooperative institutions — milk unions, sugar cooperatives and banks — before entering electoral politics. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Baramati in 1991 and later moved to state politics, representing Baramati in the Maharashtra Assembly.

He entered politics in 1982, when he was elected to the board of a cooperative sugar factory. In 1991, he was elected as the chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank and remained in the post for the next 16 years

Pawar was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1991 from the Baramati Parliamentary constituency. He later vacated the seat for his uncle Sharad Pawar, who then became the Defence Minister in Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's government.

Later, Pawar was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly seven times from the Baramati Assembly constituency. He first won in a 1991 by-election and subsequently retained it for five consecutive terms in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014. Pawar served as the Minister of State for Agriculture and Power in CM Sudhakarrao Naik's government from 1991 to 1992.

Ajit became the Minister of State for Soil Conservation, Power and Planning in 1992 when Sharad Pawar became the Chief Minister. In 1999, as part of the INC-NCP coalition government, he became a cabinet minister responsible for the Irrigation Department. He was additionally given the Rural Development Department in 2003 as part of Sushil Kumar Shinde's cabinet.

After the Congress-NCP coalition won the 2004 Assembly elections, he retained the Water Resources Ministry in Deshmukh's and later Ashok Chavan's cabinets.

Rebellion against Uncle Sharad Pawar

On 23 November 2019, Ajit Pawar joined a government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and became the Deputy Chief Minister. The government collapsed less than 80 hours later, and he resigned alongside then-CM Devendra Fadnavis.

Pawar returned to the NCP, and on 1 December 2019, it was announced that he would take over as Deputy CM for the Maha Vikas Aghadi government after the start of the winter session of the state legislature on 16 December.

In 2022, the Shiv Sena party split, and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed. In 2022, the Shiv Sena party split, and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed. In July 2023, Ajit Pawar split the NCP and joined the BJP-led Mahayuti government with the backing of a large group of MLAs. He was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister alongside Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis.

This meant a formal division of the NCP into two factions. The Pawar-led faction received the name and symbol from the Election Commission of India.

Ajit Pawar Family

Ajit Pawar was born in Deolali Pravara, Ahmednagar district, on 22 July 1959. He is the son of Ashatai Pawar and Anantrao Pawar, the brother of Sharad Pawar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party and a four-time former Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Pawar attended school in Deolali Pravara but dropped out of college to help his family after his father's death. He was married to Sunetra Pawar, with whom he has two sons, Jay and Parth Pawar.

Ajit Pawar's Net Worth

According to his latest election affidavit, Ajit Pawar’s declared net worth was approximately ₹103.16 crore, with total assets of around ₹124.55 crore and liabilities of about ₹21.4 crore.

Ajit Pawar’s movable and immovable assets include real estate, agricultural land, financial investments and other properties. In affidavits filed during the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Ajit Pawar reported movable assets worth over ₹8 crore and immovable assets exceeding ₹37 crore.

Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, has declared movable assets of over ₹14.5 crore and immovable properties valued at around ₹58.4 crore.

In 2021, properties linked to Ajit Pawar and his family, worth nearly ₹1,000 crore, were attached by tax authorities as part of a benami property probe. However, in 2024, an appellate tribunal cleared him of the allegations, citing a lack of evidence, and ordered the return of the attached assets.