NCP leader Ajit Pawar (on the left) along with NCP supermo Sharad Pawar on the right.

Fifty-three-year-old Ajit Pawar, or Dada as he is popularly known, is right in the middle of the political ‘coup’ that Maharashtra woke up to on Saturday, 23 November; a Bharatiya Janata Party-Nationalist Congress Party government with Devendra Fadnavis taking oath as chief minister and NCP’s Ajit Pawar being sworn in as the state’s deputy chief minister.

Till Friday evening, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who is also Ajit’s paternal uncle, had repeatedly said that Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray would be CM with a coalition government formed by the NCP, Shiv Sena and the Congress.But in a surprising turn of events, it is NCP’s Ajit Pawar whose support has allegedly helped the BJP reach the 145-majority mark in the Maharashtra Assembly, ending the deadlock as well as the President’s Rule in the state. The majority is yet to be proven on the floor of the House.

Ajit Pawar’s Political Ambitions

Ajit’s father Anantrao was NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s elder brother. Unlike Sharad Pawar, Anantrao worked for renowned director V Shantaram. Ajit’s ambitions, however, drove him into politics, following his uncle’s footsteps.

His career graph is similar to that of his uncle’s, as Ajit has worked to gain a strong grip on Maharashtra’s co-operative sector. He has been by the side of his uncle Sharad Pawar since 1992.

While Ajit was considered the heir-apparent to the NCP chief, he had to repeatedly deny rumours that he was insecure of the entry of Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule into politics in the 2009 parliamentary elections. While Sule and Ajit denied any competition between them, the entry of a third generation of the family into politics further strained the equations between its members. Rohit Pawar, grandnephew of the NCP chief, has been rising in importance within the NCP.

Ajit Pawar’s Repeated Resignations

Ajit is known to resort to resignations to get his way. In September 2012, while he was minister in the Maharashtra Cabinet, he resigned from his post as deputy chief minister over allegations of his involvement in the irrigation scam during his tenure as the Water Resources Minister.

The Maharashtra government was an alliance of the NCP and Prithviraj Chavan’s Congress. Under threats of resignation by other NCP ministers, the Chavan government had to reinstate Ajit. This happened only after Sharad Pawar stepped in to manage the political turmoil. Ajit was reinstated as deputy CM in December 2012.

Similarly, in September 2019, Ajit resigned as Baramati MLA. This time it was because he was hurt that his father’s name was included in a money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. The case was in connection with the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam.

He went on to win the elections from the same seat in the results announced on 24 October.

Ajit Pawar’s Family

Ajit Pawar calls himself an agriculturist. His wife is Sunetra is a social entrepreneur. They have two sons together, Parth and Jay.

Sunetra also looks after the politics in his constituency. She is the sister of former Minister of Maharashtra Padamsingh Bajirao Patil.