Ajit Pawar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Pawar in December 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8thDeputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 December 2024 (2024-12-05) – 28 January 2026 (2026-01-28) Serving with Eknath Shinde | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Governor |
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| Chief Minister | Devendra Fadnavis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ministry and Departments |
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| Preceded by | Devendra Fadnavis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sunetra Pawar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member ofMaharashtra Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 29 August 1991 – 28 January 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sharad Pawar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Baramati | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament,Lok Sabha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 May 1991 – 18 September 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Shankarrao Bajirao Patil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sharad Pawar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Baramati, Maharashtra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National President of Nationalist Congress Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 July 2023 – 28 January 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sharad Pawar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sunetra Pawar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Ajit Anantrao Pawar (1959-07-22)22 July 1959 Deolali Pravara, Bombay State, India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 28 January 2026(2026-01-28) (aged 66) Baramati, Maharashtra, India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cause of death | Aircraft accident | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Nationalist Congress Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | National Democratic Alliance (2023–2026) United Progressive Alliance (2004–2022) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence |
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| Occupation | Politician | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Dada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ajit Anantrao Pawar[a] (22 July 1959 – 28 January 2026) was an Indian politician who served asMaharashtra's longest-servingdeputy chief minister for more than eight years between 2010 and2026 for six terms.[2][3] He held the office for six terms under various governments, including the cabinets ofPrithviraj Chavan,Devendra Fadnavis,Uddhav Thackeray, andEknath Shinde.[4]
He also served as theleader of the opposition in theMaharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2022 to 2023 and representedBaramati Lok Sabha constituency in 1991.[5]
Pawar's grandparents were Govindrao Pawar and Shardabai Pawar.[6] Shardabai was active in thePeasants and Workers Party (PWP). In 1938, she was elected unopposed to the Pune Local Board.[6]
The couple had eleven children, including seven sons and four daughters.[6] One of their sons,Sharad Pawar, later became the president of theNationalist Congress Party (NCP) and served as the four-timeChief Minister of Maharashtra.[6]
Ajit Anantrao Pawar[7] was born on 22 July 1959 inDeolali Pravara,Maharashtra,[8][9] to Anantrao and Ashatai Pawar.[10] In 1985,[11] he marriedSunetra Pawar (née Patil), the sister ofPadamsinh Bajirao Patil, a senior NCP leader.[12][13] The couple had two sons, Parth and Jay Pawar.[14]
Following the footsteps of his uncleSharad Pawar in theIndian National Congress,[15] Ajit Pawar made his first foray into politics in 1982 when he was elected to the board of acooperative sugar factory. In 1991, he was elected as the chairman of thePune District Central Cooperative Bank and remained in the post for the next 16 years.[16]
Pawar was elected to theLok Sabha for the first time in 1991 from theBaramati Parliamentary constituency. He later vacated the seat for his uncle, who then became theDefence Minister in Prime MinisterP. V. Narasimha Rao's government.[17] Pawar was known for his blunt and pragmatic leadership style, nicknamed "Ajit Dada".[18][19]
Later, he was elected to theMaharashtra Legislative Assembly seven times from theBaramati Assembly constituency. He first won in a 1991by-election and subsequently retained it for five consecutive terms in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014.[20][21][22] He served as the Minister of State for Agriculture and Power in CMSudhakarrao Naik's government from 1991 to 1992.[23]
He became the Minister of State for Soil Conservation, Power and Planning in 1992 when Sharad Pawar became the Chief Minister. In1999, 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 ofSushilkumar Shinde's cabinet.[23] After the INC-NCP coalition won in the2004 Assembly elections, he retained the Water Resources Ministry in Deshmukh's and laterAshok Chavan's cabinets.[24]
There were allegations that, as the minister for water resources, he helped the development ofLavasa,[25] a project touted as a "vision of Sharad Pawar". TheMaharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (MKVDC) leased 141.15 ha (348.8 acres) to Lavasa in August 2002, which included part of the Warasgaon dam reservoir. The lease between MKVDC and Lavasa was executed at rates far below the market rate.[26]
In September 2012, there were accusations that there had been misappropriation to the tune of Rs. 70,000 crores. These allegations were made by the Maharashtra bureaucratVijay Pandhare, and caused the anti-corruption activistAnjali Damania to demand Pawar's resignation as a minister. However, the allegations were not proved, and Ajit was reinstated as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra.[27]
On 7 April 2013, Pawar's statement at a speech inIndapur sparked controversy due to its alleged callousness. In response to a 55-day fast by activists protesting the Maharashtra government's inability to provide water during a drought, he asked whether he should "urinate into [the dam]" to make up for the lack of water in it. After a public outcry against his statement, he publicly apologised, saying that the comment was the "biggest mistake of [his] life".[28]
According to reports, Ajit Pawar made a phone call to the Pune Police Commissioner on 19 May 2024, after Vedant Agarwal (son of Vishal Agarwal, owner of Brahma Realty & Infrastructure), then 17 and allegedly drunk,crashed a luxury Porsche in Pune'sKalyani Nagar, killing two IT professionals on a motorbike. Pawar allegedly urged the police not to harshly pursue the case against the minor accused. This was widely described as political pressure.[29] Pawar did not deny calling the police commissioner, but said it was to ensure the police did not face other pressures, portraying it as routine oversight by a guardian minister rather than interference. Pawar also described the allegations as baseless.[29]
On 23 November 2019, he defected from NCP and joined a government led by theBharatiya Janata Party and became theDeputy Chief Minister.[30][31] He submitted a paper with the signatures of NCP's MLAs to the Governor to prove the government's majority. However, the government collapsed less than 80 hours later and he resigned alongside then-CMDevendra Fadnavis. He subsequently returned to the NCP, and on 1 December 2019, it was announced that he would take over as Deputy CM for theMaha Vikas Aghadi government after the start of the winter session of the state legislature on 16 December.[32]
In 2022, due toa split in the Shiv Sena, theMaha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed. After the rebel Shiv Sena faction and BJP formed a government withEknath Shinde as CM, Pawar became the Leader of the Opposition in theMaharashtra Legislative Assembly.[33]
In 2023, having the support of the majority of the erstwhile NCP's MLAs, he also claimed the position of president of the NCP, as well as the party's name and itselectoral symbol.[34][35] Pawar joined the rulingMaha Yuti coalition and took the oath as deputy CM of the state on 2 July. On 7 February 2024, theElection Commission Of India (ECI) awarded the party name and symbol to thefaction headed by Ajit. The faction led by Sharad Pawar will be henceforth known asNationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).[36][35] Despite his faction being routed in the2024 Lok Sabha election, his NCP placed in third in the2024 Legislative Assembly election, with the Maha Yuti alliance forming a landslide majority government; Pawar was again sworn-in as deputy chief minister in December, tasked with portfolios such asfinance. The party also performed well in the2025–26 Maharashtra local elections. Months before his death, reconciliation talks between the two NCP parties were reportedly occurring.[37][38] His wife,Rajya Sabha MPSunetra Pawar, succeeded him as the deputy chief minister.
On 28 January 2026, at approximately 08:44IST (UTC+5:30), a business jet carrying Pawar on an air charter flight fromChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport inMumbai toBaramati Airport inMaharashtra crashed while attempting a second approach to Baramati Airport Runway 11. The aircraft veered off the runway, burst into flames, and was destroyed on impact, resulting in the deaths of Pawar and four others on board.[39][40][41][42][43]
The aircraft was a 16-year-oldLearjet 45XR, registration VT-SSK, operated by VSR Aviation.[44][45]
At the time of the incident, Pawar was travelling toBaramati to address multiple public meetings in connection with the upcomingZilla Parishad elections.[46] The Maharashtra government declared a three-day state of mourning following his death; his funeral was held in Baramati on 29 January, with full state honours. His body wascremated.[47][48]
| Election | Year | Party | Constituency | Opponent | Result | Margin | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lok Sabha | 1991[49] | INC | Baramati | BJP | Kanta Nalawade | Won | 336,831 | ||
| Maharashtra Legislative Assembly | 1991^[50] | INC | Baramati | BJP | K.H.Khanderao | Won | 86,915 | ||
| 1995[51] | INC | IND | Kakade Ratanrao Bhagwanrao | Won | 77,335 | ||||
| 1999[52] | NCP | IND | Taware Chandrarao Krishnarao | Won | 50,366 | ||||
| 2004[53] | NCP | SS | Popatrao Mansingrao Tupe | Won | 66,157 | ||||
| 2009[54] | NCP | IND | Taware Ranjankumar Shankarrao | Won | 102,797 | ||||
| 2014[55] | NCP | BJP | Prabhakar Dadaram Gawade | Won | 89,792 | ||||
| 2019[56] | NCP | BJP | Gopichand Padalkar | Won | 165,265 | ||||
| 2024[57][58][59] | Nationalist Congress Party (post–2023) | NCP-SP | Yugendra Pawar | Won | 100,899 | ||||
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