By Admin 
For Ajit Pawar, who has served as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra six times, the post of Chief Minister remained a dream. He died in a tragic plane crash on Wednesday and his dream of becoming Chief Minister was never realised. Ajit Pawar (66) was a grassroots leader who met a tragic end in his hometown Baramati. Experienced leader Ajit Pawar never hid his desire to become the Chief Minister of the state.
Ajit Pawar was considered a hardworking person
Before joining the coalition government of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena in July 2023, he was the Deputy Chief Minister in November 2019 when Devendra Fadnavis was the Chief Minister. However, that government lasted barely two days. Ajit Pawar was considered a hardworking person. While many leaders have the image of arriving late to programs, Pawar was very punctual. He has a record of becoming Deputy Chief Minister in many governments led by Congress, Shiv Sena and BJP.
Political journey full of ups and downs
Ajit Pawar’s political career was full of ups and downs. He has always emerged victorious from everything, be it the alleged Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam or the recent controversy over his son Parth’s land deal in Pune. People used to fondly call Ajit Pawar as ‘Dada’ (elder brother). He was known for being outspoken and did not mince words when expressing his views, especially to rural audiences.
These statements caused controversy
Ajit Pawar had created a major controversy in 2013 by mocking the severe shortage of water and electricity in some parts of the state. However, after facing criticism for his comments, he had to apologize publicly.
Addressing a public meeting in a village in Pune’s Indapur, he had ridiculed Bhaiya Deshmukh, a farmer from the drought-hit area of Solapur, who was on a fast demanding more water at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. He had said, “He has been on fast for the last 55 days.” If there is no water in the dam, how can we release it? Should we pee in it? If there is no water to drink, it is not possible to urinate.” Referring to the power cut situation in some parts of the state, Ajit Pawar had said, “I have seen that more children are being born at night due to power cuts. It seems that there is no more work left to do.
Rebellion against uncle in July 2023
Coming out of the shadow of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, in July 2023, Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle and took the name and symbol of the party as well as most of the MLAs of the party to his side. In last year’s Lok Sabha elections, Ajit Pawar’s party got only one seat. Ajit Pawar, who came under attack from critics for his crushing defeat in the general elections, however, proved everyone wrong five months later by winning 41 seats in alliance with the BJP in the assembly elections.
NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) got only 10 seats. After the results of the 2024 assembly elections, Ajit Pawar further strengthened his position in the state politics. Despite the alliance with the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, he insisted that he had joined the ruling coalition for the sake of development and had not deviated from his core progressive ideology.
He remained focused on his party and his ministries, while political speculations revolved around the so-called race for supremacy between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and second Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Became MP from Baramati in 1991
Born on July 22, 1959, to Asha and Anantrao Pawar, Ajit Pawar entered politics in 1982, following the footsteps of his uncle (his father’s younger brother) Sharad Pawar, when he was elected to the board of a sugar factory. In the year 1991, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Baramati and later he vacated the seat for his uncle.
Later Sharad Pawar became Defense Minister in the government of PV Narasimha Rao. Ajit Pawar served as Baramati MLA for eight terms from 1991. Ajit Pawar was the state Finance and Planning Minister and was scheduled to present the state budget for 2026-27 during the beginning of the budget session of the Assembly on February 23 in Mumbai next month.