The Leader Whose Death Reshapes Maharashtra’s Political Future
The sudden death of senior Maharashtra leader Ajit Pawar has sent shockwaves through India’s wealthiest state, creating uncertainty across political camps and reopening long-running questions about power, alliances and succession.
Pawar, who served as deputy chief minister, died in a tragic plane crash along with four others. His passing removes a key architect of Maharashtra’s recent political realignments — a figure whose career was marked by bold moves, fierce rivalries and a complicated family legacy.
From Heir Apparent to Independent Power Broker
Born in 1959, Ajit Pawar entered politics in the 1980s under the guidance of his uncle Sharad Pawar, the founder of the Nationalist Congress Party and one of the most influential leaders the state has known. Much of his early work focused on Baramati, the family’s western Maharashtra stronghold where cooperative institutions and local networks cemented political dominance.
Although widely seen as Sharad Pawar’s natural successor, Ajit Pawar was determined to carve out his own identity. Where his uncle favoured long negotiations and coalition-building, the younger Pawar earned a reputation for bluntness, administrative focus and direct control over regional structures.
Rifts That Changed the State’s Politics
Tensions between the two simmered for years before bursting into public view in 2019, when Ajit Pawar briefly allied with the BJP to form a government and assume the deputy chief minister’s post. The move collapsed within days after Sharad Pawar intervened, but the episode permanently altered perceptions of unity within the powerful family.
In 2023, Ajit Pawar again broke away, this time successfully joining a BJP-led coalition and staking claim to the NCP’s name and symbol after splitting the party. The once-singular Pawar political bloc fractured into rival camps, reshaping Maharashtra’s electoral equations.
A Divisive Yet Influential Legacy
Supporters viewed his defections as pragmatic and reflective of modern coalition politics, where ideological opponents often cooperate for stability. Critics, however, saw opportunism and instability in his shifting alliances.
Regardless of perspective, his decisions transformed the state’s political map and weakened long-held assumptions about dynastic continuity.
Unanswered Questions After His Passing
Before his death, speculation had grown about possible reconciliation within the divided NCP factions. Some observers believed Ajit Pawar could even have emerged as a unifying figure between the two sides.
Those discussions have now stopped abruptly. Attention has turned to whether lawmakers who followed him will align with Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, other family members, or chart new political courses altogether. The durability of the alliances Pawar forged in recent years is also under close scrutiny.
Ajit Pawar leaves behind a complex political inheritance — one shaped by ambition, family ties and high-stakes manoeuvring — and a Maharashtra that must now navigate its future without one of its most decisive and controversial strategists.
