'Ajit Dada' Thrived In Maharashtra's Power Corridors, Came Home To Die

He came home to die. In his decades-long political career, Ajit Pawar traversed the length and breadth of Maharashtra for election campaigns and public outreach exercises. His time in the corridors of power, including six terms as Deputy Chief Minister, required him to spend a lot of time in the state capital, Mumbai. Political manoeuvring also brought him to Delhi frequently. But 'Dada', as he was fondly called, met his untimely end in Baramati, the Pawars' family turf.

The son of Sharad Pawar's brother Anantrao, and Ashatai, Ajit Pawar, started his political career, like his uncle, with an election to the board of a cooperative sugar factory.

In 1991, he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Baramati, which had started gaining a reputation as Sharad Pawar's stronghold. Ajit Pawar's Lok Sabha stint was short as he vacated the seat soon after for his uncle, who became the Defence Minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government.

After vacating the Lok Sabha seat, Ajit Pawar was elected to the Baramati Assembly seat in 1991. Baramati did not have another MLA in the past 35 years. In these three decades, Ajit Pawar went from the Congress to the NCP when Sharad Pawar broke ranks with the Grand Old Party and founded the NCP. And more recently, Ajit Pawar led a rebellion against his uncle that split the NCP. But irrespective of which party or symbol he represented, the Baramati Vidhan Sabha seat backed Dada. Even in the Assembly polls in 2024, when the NCP had split, and the two factions were contesting against each other, Ajit Pawar comfortably defeated the Sharad Pawar camp's pick and his relative, Yugendra Pawar.

Ajit Pawar exercised a strong influence over cooperative boards in Baramati and had the image of a development man. It is this support at the grassroots that gave him the confidence to rebel against his uncle, a political giant who founded the party.

Ironically, Ajit Pawar's tragic death comes at a time when the power corridors of Maharashtra were abuzz with speculation that the two factions of NCP could reunite.

The camps led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar recently contested elections to municipal corporations in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together.

Cousins Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule addressed joint press conferences and both camps said their workers want the two factions to reunite. Publicly, leaders from both sides maintained that they had not taken a final call on a merger.

Sixty-six-year-old Ajit Pawar, reports said, was to attend four important public meetings in Baramati ahead of the zila parishad election next month. The small aircraft, which took off from Mumbai around 8.10 am, crashed near Baramati airport during a landing attempt around 8,45 am. Eyewitnesses said the plane was barely 100 metres from the runway when it crashed to the ground. All five occupants, including Ajit Pawar, died on the spot.