| Honorific Prefix: | The Honourable |
| Ajit Pawar | |
| Birth Date: | 22 July 1959 |
| Birth Place: | Deolali Pravara, Bombay State (now in Maharashtra), India |
| Residence: | Sahyog, Maharashtra, India |
| Office: | 8th Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra |
| Status: | Designate |
| Alongside: | Eknath Shinde |
| Governor: | C. P. Radhakrishnan |
| 1Blankname: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| 2Blankname: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata: | |
| Term Start1: | 2 July 2023 |
| Term End1: | 4 December 2024 |
| Governor1: | Ramesh Bais C. P. Radhakrishnan |
| 1Blankname1: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata1: | Eknath Shinde |
| Alongside1: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| 2Blankname1: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata1: | |
| Predecessor1: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| 3Blankname1: | Guardian Minister |
| 3Namedata1: | Pune District |
| Governor2: | Bhagat Singh Koshyari |
| Term Start2: | 30 December 2019 |
| Term End2: | 29 June 2022[1] |
| 1Blankname2: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata2: | Uddhav Thackeray |
| 2Blankname2: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata2: |
|
| Predecessor2: | Himself |
| Successor2: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Term Start3: | 23 November 2019 |
| Term End3: | 26 November 2019 |
| 1Blankname3: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata3: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Governor3: | Bhagat Singh Koshyari |
| 2Blankname3: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata3: |
|
| Predecessor3: | President's rule |
| Successor3: | Himself |
| Term Start4: | 25 October 2012 |
| Term End4: | 26 September 2014 |
| 2Blankname4: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata4: | |
| 1Blankname4: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata4: | Prithviraj Chavan |
| Governor4: |
|
| Predecessor4: | Himself |
| Successor4: | President's rule |
| Term Start5: | 10 November 2010 |
| Term End5: | 25 September 2012 |
| 1Blankname5: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata5: | Prithviraj Chavan |
| Governor5: | |
| 2Blankname5: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata5: | |
| Predecessor5: | Chhagan Bhujbal |
| Successor5: | Himself |
| Office6: | 23rd Leader of the Opposition Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| Governor6: | |
| Term Start6: | 4 July 2022 |
| Term End6: | 2 July 2023 |
| 1Blankname6: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata6: | Eknath Shinde |
| 2Blankname6: | Speaker of the House |
| 2Namedata6: |
|
| Deputy6: | Balasaheb Thorat |
| Predecessor6: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Successor6: | Jitendra Awhad (acting) |
| Office7: | Leader of the House of the Maharashtra Legislative Council |
| Governor7: | Bhagat Singh Koshyari |
| 1Blankname7: | Chairman |
| 1Namedata7: | Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar |
| 2Blankname7: | Deputy Leader |
| 2Namedata7: | Subhash Desai |
| Termstart7: | 24 February 2020 |
| Termend7: | 29 June 2022 |
| Predecessor7: |
|
| Successor7: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Term Start8: | 11 November 2010 |
| Term End8: | 25 September 2012 |
| Governor8: | K. Sankaranarayanan |
| 1Blankname8: | Chairman |
| 1Namedata8: | Shivajirao Deshmukh |
| Predecessor8: | Chhagan Bhujbal |
| Successor8: | R. R. Patil |
| Office9: | Deputy Leader of the House Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| Governor9: | Bhagat Singh Koshyari |
| 1Blankname9: | Speaker of the House |
| 1Namedata9: |
|
| 2Blankname9: | Leader of the House |
| 2Namedata9: | Uddhav Thackeray |
| Termstart9: | 30 December 2019 |
| Termend9: | 29 June 2022 |
| Predecessor9: | Girish Mahajan |
| Successor9: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Office10: | Cabinet Minister Government of Maharashtra |
| 2Blankname10: | Chief Minister |
| 2Namedata10: | Ashok Chavan |
| Governor10: | |
| 1Blankname10: | Ministry and Departments |
| 1Namedata10: |
|
| Term Start10: | 7 November 2009 |
| Term End10: | 10 November 2010 |
| Predecessor10: | |
| Successor10: | |
| 2Blankname11: | Chief Minister |
| 2Namedata11: | Ashok Chavan |
| Governor11: | |
| 1Blankname11: | Ministry and Departments |
| 1Namedata11: |
|
| Term Start11: | 08 December 2008 |
| Term End11: | 06 November 2009 |
| 2Blankname12: | Chief Minister |
| 2Namedata12: | Vilasrao Deshmukh |
| Governor12: | |
| 1Blankname12: | Ministry and Departments |
| 1Namedata12: |
|
| Term Start12: | 9 November 2004 |
| Term End12: | 1 December 2008 |
| Office13: | Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| Term Start13: | 1991 |
| Predecessor13: | Sharad Pawar |
| Constituency13: | Baramati |
| Office14: | Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha |
| Constituency14: | Baramati |
| Term Start14: | 3 May 1991 |
| Term End14: | 20 June 1991 |
| Predecessor14: | Shankarrao Bajirao Patil |
| Successor14: | Sharad Pawar |
| Party: | Nationalist Congress Party |
| Otherparty: | National Democratic Alliance (2023–present) |
| Occupation: | Politician |
| Spouse: | Sunetra Pawar |
| Children: | 2 |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Nickname: | Ajit Dada |
| Native Name Lang: | mar |
Ajit Anantrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: [əd͡ʒit̪ pəʋaːɾ]; born 22 July 1959)[2] is an Indian politician from Maharashtra who served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2 July 2023[3] alongside Devendra Fadnavis.
He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2022 to 2023 and represented Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in 1991.[4] [5] He served as deputy chief minister many times.[6]
Pawar was born in Deolali Pravara, Ahmednagar district.[7] He is son of Anantrao Pawar, the brother of Sharad Pawar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party and a four-time former Chief Minister of Maharashtra.[8] [9] He did his schooling Deolali Pravara but dropped out of college to help his family after the death of his father.
Following the footsteps of his uncle Sharad Pawar in Indian National Congress,[10] Ajit made his first foray into politics in 1982 when he was elected to the board of a cooperative sugar factory. In 1991, he was elected as the chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank and remained in the post for the next 16 years.
He was also elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1991 from the Baramati Parliamentary constituency. He later vacated the seat for his uncle, who then become the Defence Minister in Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao's government.
Later, he was elected seven times to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Baramati Assembly constituency. He first won in the 1991 by election and retained it for five consecutive terms in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014.[11] [12] [13] He served as the Minister of State for Agriculture and Power in CM Sudhakarrao Naik's government from 1991 to 1992.[14]
He became the Minister of State for Soil Conservation, Power and Planning in 1992 when Sharad Pawar became the Chief Minister. In 1999, 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 of Sushilkumar Shinde's cabinet.[14] After the INC-NCP coalition won in the 2004 Assembly elections, he retained the Water Resources Ministry in Deshmukh's and later Ashok Chavan's cabinets.[15]
See main article: 2023 Maharashtra political crisis.
On 23 November 2019, he defected from NCP and joined a government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and became the Deputy Chief Minister.[16] [17] 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 along with then-CM Devendra Fadnavis. He subsequently returned to the NCP, and on 1 December 2019, it was announced that he would take over as Deputy CM for the Maha Vikas Aghadi government after the start of the winter session of the state legislature on 16 December.[18]
In 2022, due to a split in the Shiv Sena, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed. After the rebel Shiv Sena faction and BJP formed a government with Eknath Shinde as CM, Pawar became the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.[19]
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 its electoral symbol.[20] [21] On 7 February 2024, The Election Commission Of India (ECI) awarded the party name and symbol to the faction headed by Ajit. The faction led by Sharad Pawar will be henceforth known as Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).[22]
There are allegations that, as the minister for water resources, he helped the development of Lavasa,[23] a project touted as a "vision of Sharad Pawar". The Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (MKVDC) leased 141.15ha 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.[24]
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 bureaucrat Vijay Pandhare, and caused the anti-corruption activist Anjali 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.[25]
On 7 April 2013, Pawar's statement at a speech in Indapur sparked controversy due to its alleged callousness. In response to a 55-day fast by activists protesting the Maharashtra governments 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 apologized, saying that the comment was the "biggest mistake of [his] life".[26]
| Election | Year | Party | Constituency | Opponent | Result | Margin | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loksabha | 1991 | Baramati | ||||||||||||
| Maharashtra Legislative Assembly | 1995 | Baramati | Kakade Ratanrao Bhagwanrao | |||||||||||
| 1999 | Taware Chandrarao Krishnarao | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | Popatrao Mansingrao Tupe | |||||||||||||
| 2009 | Taware Ranjankumar Shankarrao | |||||||||||||
| 2014 | Prabhakar Dadaram Gawade | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | Gopichand Padalkar | |||||||||||||
| 2024[27] [28] | Yugendra Pawar | |||||||||||||