Ajit Pawar’s immediate family lacks the political heft to inherit his legacy, leaving senior leaders struggling to hold together the NCP (AP) without his authority and mass appeal.
With weakened organisational strength and strained ties within the NDA, the NCP faces the challenge of rebuilding its cadres
Recent tactical cooperation between the two NCP factions revived speculation about a merger. But Ajit Pawar’s absence makes the future of the Pawar legacy highly uncertain.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar died in a tragic plane crash on Wednesday morning. Authorities later confirmed that all five passengers on board, including Pawar, were killed in the incident. Pawar's last rites will be performed in Baramati on January 29 with full State honours. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and politicians across the party spectrum are likely to be present for his last rites.
Pawar’s family members and party activists flocked the Baramati medical college. NCP activists from both factions mourned his death by sloganeering “Ajit Dada parat yaa” (Ajit Dada, come back). Political leaders across parties and ideologies expressed grief and shock after the tragic plane crash. Social media is flooded with tributes to Pawar both from his admirers as well as political adversaries.
Pawar’s death sent shockwaves across Maharashtra’s political landscape. The questions on people’s minds: Who will take his political legacy forward and what is the future of the NCP(AP?
His sons - Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar aren’t well equipped to claim his political legacy. Parth’s name recently appeared in an alleged land scam deal in Pune. He contested Lok Sabha elections from Maval constituency but lost. Younger son Jay Pawar isn’t very active in politics. Both sons have companies, run business and social enterprises.
Ajit Pawar's daughter-in-law Rutuja Patil isn’t active in politics either. His wife Sunetra Pawar lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 from Baramati - Pawar’s home turf, against cousin Supriya Sule. Later Sunetra Pawar was nominated to Rajya Sabha but she isn’t a mass-base leaders like Supriya Sule - from the rival NCP(SP) party.
Ajit Pawar’s nephew - Rohit Pawar is an MLA from Karjat - Ahilya Nagar. Another nephew Yungendra Pawar is active in local politics but the duo has remained with the Sharad Pawar faction.
In this context, the future of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after Ajit Pawar is likely to be shaped by a complex interplay of leadership transition, ideological positioning, and organisational rebuilding. Ajit Pawar has, for decades, been the party’s most influential mass leader and excellent administrator, especially after Sharad Pawar gradually withdrew from active electoral politics. It’s a challenge before the NCP (AP) faction to fill the vacuum of a significant leadership of Ajit Pawar. Senior leaders Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, Hasan Mushrif may face organisational challenges to keep the party intact.
Ajit Pawar was a charismatic leader, he had a fan following, and significant influence among party activists. Sustaining this cadre is definitely a challenge before the party.
Challenge before the leadership
In the short term, the NCP may struggle with cohesion and clarity. The party has already experienced a major split, and without Ajit Pawar’s authority to command loyalty across regions especially western Maharashtra, internal fissures could deepen. Leaders such as Supriya Sule and other senior figures may assume greater prominence, but the challenge will be to consolidate leadership while balancing legacy politics with generational change.
Ideologically, the NCP could be pushed to redefine its core identity. Under Ajit Pawar, the party leaned heavily on pragmatic power politics and coalition management. A post-Ajit Pawar NCP may attempt to reposition itself as a values-driven regional party, foregrounding federalism, agrarian concerns, and social justice, or align more clearly with either the INDIA bloc or a regional coalition framework.
Family feud: Pawar vs Pawar
After the political split in 2023 the bitterness among families rose. However members of both the factions used to meet occasionally for family celebrations. Recently, ahead of the municipal elections, Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar, and Supriya Sule shared a stage at the inauguration of the Sharadchandra Pawar Centre for Excellence in Artificial Intelligence funded by the Adani Group at Baramati. This event drew political attention amid the split in the Nationalist Congress Party. The joint appearance was seen as a symbolic moment, reflecting cordiality and pragmatic cooperation despite ongoing factional differences.
Pawar’s cousin, MP Supriya Sule and MLA Rohit Pawar were keen to contest local body elections together with the NCP (AP). The alliance was formed for local body elections especially for Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, where Ajit Pawar suffered a massive defeat. But the closeness of the family, public appearances, enthusiasm among party cadres of both factions for alliance or merger was building up. This however would have been a challenge for NDA, like how the Thackeray brothers reunited in Mumbai, say political analysts. Ajit Pawar was also been sidelined in NDA. The BJP didn’t form an alliance with Pawar for Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal elections and contested separately. Pawar’s cadres were unhappy and felt betrayed.
With the massive defeat in Ajit Pawar’s strongholds Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, his political existence was under a scanner. Since the party split, some analysts said Pawar would become political baggage for the NDA in Maharashtra. The BJP was planning to win absolute power without allies and Pawar would soon be sidelined and thrown out of the alliance.
Now after Ajit Pawar’s death, organisationally, the party’s survival will depend on rebuilding grassroots structures, especially among farmers, cooperatives, and the youth. Whether it can retain its traditional vote base without Ajit Pawar remains a question. In the long run, the NCP’s future will hinge on its ability to transition from personality-centric politics to institution-based leadership, while adapting to Maharashtra’s increasingly polarised and competitive political landscape.
In the months before Ajit Pawar’s death, the two rival NCP factions—led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP) -- showed signs of a thaw, particularly at the local level. Responding to pressure from grassroots workers, both sides jointly contested the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls, issued a common manifesto, and shared public platforms. However, the cooperation remained limited and tactical. Senior leaders stopped short of committing to a merger. Even so, the coordination sparked speculation about the possibility of a broader reconciliation in the future.
Recently both factions coordinated and collaborated to avoid vote division. Leaders made Joint appearances and aligned messaging. This triggered speculation about a reconciliation between Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit. However there are no signs of an official merger so far.
Sharad Pawar’s NCP (United) was broken after the party was split by his ambitious nephew Ajit Pawar. Now, after Ajit Pawar, who will take centre stage and keep the Pawars’ bastion intact? How will the NCP (AP) progress or be merged with the NCP (SP)? The answers to these, may alter the dynamics of Maharashtra's politics like never before.
