Meet Ajit Pawar, The Veteran NCP Leader Who Split The Party His Uncle Sharad Pawar Founded

For the fifth time in his political career, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Sunday. 

Effectively splitting NCP into two, Ajit switched sides with the majority of party MLAs to join Eknath Shinde's government. A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that 40 NCP MLAs have joined the ruling coalition of Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction and the BJP.

Ajit's coup caps a long-running tussle in NCP. First, NCP President Sharad Pawar said that he would step down as the party chief. Then, he said he would continue as party chief and appointed two working presidents—his daughter Supriya Sule and Praful Patel— and sidelined Ajit. 

Ajit and his son Parth Pawar were being sidelined in NCP since 2019 when, in a pre-dawn coup, he had taken oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra with Devendra Fadnavis as CM. That government, however, lasted for only three days. 

Ajit Pawar’s journey from Deputy CM to being sidelined 

Ajit Pawar held key portfolios and served two stints as the Deputy Chief Minister in the 15-year-long rule of the Congress-NCP alliance in Maharashtra.

During 1999-2014, Maharashtra was ruled by Congress and NCP in a coalition and Ajit was Deputy CM twice during 2010-14. 

First, Ajit became the Deputy CM in 2010. Then, he was re-inducted as Deputy CM in 2012 within months of resigning over corruption allegations.

In 2010, a PTI story called Ajit “the real power centre” in NCP. 

“He is known for his administrative acumen, planning and vision and the way he has handled key portfolios of energy and irrigation. Ajit Pawar has a fan following among NCP workers that is envy of other leaders of the party. He is known to keep the media at bay,” noted the PTI story at the time. 

In 2019, Ajit sprung a pre-dawn surprise when he took oath as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra with Fadnavis as CM. That government, however, last for only three days. Later, Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena took over as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Ajit became the Deputy CM for the fourth time. 

Though Ajit was appointed as the Deputy CM in the Congress-Sena-NCP coalition stitched by Sharad Pawar, he soon began to be sidelined within his party. 

Ajit Pawar, a grassroots leader and experienced minister

Ajit Pawar, 63, has an image of a grassroots leader and an able administrator. 

For a while, Ajit was also referred to in media as “the real centre” of power in the NCP — the party his uncle Sharad Pawar founded in 2019. 

Ajit has handled key portfolios of finance, water resources, and power in the various government that has served in over the decades. Prior to the developments on Sunday morning, he had been the Deputy CM of Maharashtra four times — twice in the Congress-NCP government during 2014-19, once during the three-day-long Fadnavis ministry, and then in the MVA coalition during 2019-22.

Ajit enjoys “the image of a grassroot leader and an able administrator” and is “known to be politically ambitious and speak his mind”, notes PTI in a report.

The infighting among the Pawars

In April, Outlook’s Haima Deshpande noted that discussions arise every few months in Maharashtra that Ajit Pawar would switch to BJP. Three months later, he finally switched.

Deshpande noted that, though such conversations had been doing rounds since 2014, the developments since Ajit’s 2019 swearing-in with Fadnavis had created a trust-deficit with Sharad Pawar that has led to him being subdued.

"The happenings of the previous week in the Pawar clan – the nephew being incommunicado, cancelling all his appointments, and meeting MLAs of the party even as the same was denied by his uncle – indicate that Ajit Pawar is giving a last spirited dash to challenge his uncle’s hold over the NCP. The NCP may not split immediately but it certainly cannot be avoided. With the BJP on a poaching prowl to break up the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) by splitting up the political parties that constitute it, there is no guarantee that Ajit Pawar will continue to stay in the NCP, subdued and marginalized by his uncle Sharad Pawar’s political machinations," noted Deshpande in April.

Then, last month, Sharad Pawar appointed his daughter Supriya Sule as Working President of NCP and gave her charge of Maharashtra that was till then with Ajit Pawar.

PTI reported that, as per sources, Sule's elevation in the party expedited Ajit Pawar's decision to join the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance.

It further reported, “In May this year, before Sharad Pawar announced his decision to quit as the party chief, only to withdraw it later, Ajit Pawar visited Delhi to meet the BJP leadership.”

Following Ajit Pawar’s coup today, Deshpande noted that the split in the NCP was a foregone conclusion by the time Ajit went incommunicado two months ago.

“After the failed coup in 2019, Ajit Pawar was completely sidelined by his uncle. The opaqueness was also extended to Parth Pawar, Ajit’s son. About two months ago, Ajit Pawar had gone incommunicado, cancelling all his political and private appointments and holding extended meetings with the NCP MLAs. The split in the NCP had been a foregone conclusion and finally it happened today,” noted Deshpande.