| 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 |
| Term Start: | 2 July 2023 |
| Governor: | Ramesh Bais C. P. Radhakrishnan |
| 1Blankname: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata: | Eknath Shinde |
| Alongside: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| 2Blankname: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata: | |
| 3Blankname: | Guardian Minister |
| Predecessor: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Governor1: | Bhagat Singh Koshyari |
| Term Start1: | 30 December 2019 |
| Term End1: | 29 June 2022[1] |
| 1Blankname1: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata1: | Uddhav Thackeray |
| 2Blankname1: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata1: |
|
| Predecessor1: | Himself |
| Successor1: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Term Start2: | 23 November 2019 |
| Term End2: | 26 November 2019 |
| 1Blankname2: | Chief Minister |
| Governor2: | Bhagat Singh Koshyari |
| 2Blankname2: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata2: |
|
| 1Namedata2: | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Predecessor2: | President's rule |
| Successor2: | Himself |
| Term Start3: | 25 October 2012 |
| Term End3: | 26 September 2014 |
| 2Blankname3: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata3: | |
| 1Blankname3: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata3: | Prithviraj Chavan |
| Governor3: |
|
| Predecessor3: | Himself |
| Successor3: | President's rule |
| Term Start4: | 10 November 2010 |
| Term End4: | 25 September 2012 |
| 1Blankname4: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata4: | Prithviraj Chavan |
| Governor4: | |
| 2Blankname4: | Ministry and Departments |
| 2Namedata4: | |
| Predecessor4: | Chhagan Bhujbal |
| Successor4: | Himself |
| Office6: | 29th 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) |
| 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) is an Indian politician who is currently serving, alongside Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2 July 2023.[2] He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2022 to 2023, and was a Member of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha in 1991, representing Baramati constituency.[3] [4] He has also been a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly since 1991, representing Baramati constituency.[5] [6]
He is the nephew of Sharad Pawar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party and a four-time former Chief Minister of Maharashtra.[7] [8] He has been Deputy Chief Minister of the state the most number of times and is currently serving his 5th term.[9] He has also been a Cabinet Minister in the Maharashtra government thrice: from 2004 to 2008, 2008–2009, and 2009–2010.
In 2019, he joined a government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and became the Deputy Chief Minister; he claimed to have the support of a majority of the NCP's MLA's, but resigned from his post, alongside then-CM Devendra Fadnavis.[10] In 2023, he led another split in the NCP and became the Deputy Chief Minister in the cabinet of CM Eknath Shinde. 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.[11] 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).[12]
Ajit Pawar was born on 22 July 1959, in Deolali Pravara, Ahmednagar district.[13] He subsequently completed his schooling in the same city. He is the nephew of Sharad Pawar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party and a four-time former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, being the son of Sharad's elder brother, Anantrao Pawar. Anantrao initially worked for film maker V. Shantaram's Rajkamal Studios in Mumbai.
Pawar dropped out of college to help his family after the death of his father. He is educated up to the senior secondary level and holds the Secondary School Certificate from the Maharashtra State Board.
When Ajit was in primary school, his uncle Sharad was a rising political figure in the then-ruling Indian National Congress.[14] Ajit made his first foray into politics in 1982, when he was elected to the board of a cooperative sugar factory. He was elected the chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank in 1991, remaining in the post for the next 16 years. During this period, he was also elected to the Lok Sabha, representing the Baramati Parliamentary constituency. He later vacated his Lok Sabha seat for his uncle, who had become the Defence Minister in Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao's government. Later, he was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Baramati Assembly constituency. Pawar was re-elected from the same constituency in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014.[15] He served as the Minister of State for Agriculture and Power in CM Sudhakarrao Naik's government from 1991 to 1992.[16]
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.[16] 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.
On 23 November 2019, Pawar defected from the NCP and was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. 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, resigning 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.[17]
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.
| 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 | |||||||||||||
See main article: 2023 Maharashtra political crisis. On 2 July 2023, Ajit Pawar split the NCP and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition, being sworn in as Deputy CM for the fourth time. His actions were believed to have been caused by his dissatisfaction at the lack of a post within the NCP, unlike his cousin Supriya Sule.[18] [19] He claimed to have the support of the majority of NCP's MLAs, and later the presidency of the NCP. He also said that his faction now represented the "real" NCP, and laid claim to the NCP's name and electoral symbol.[20]
In his faction's first assembly after the split, Ajit criticized his uncle, calling him biased towards the latter's daughter, Supriya Sule. He also said that his uncle had insulted him, accused his uncle of hypocrisy, and urged him to retire from politics.
There are allegations that, as the minister for water resources, he spared no efforts to help in the development of Lavasa,[21] 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.[22]
He told the Indian Election Commission in 2004 that he had financial assets of more than 3 crore Rupees at that time.
In September 2012, there were accusations that there had been misappropriation 70,000 crores. These allegations were made by the Maharashtrian bureaucrat Vijay Pandhare, and caused the anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania to demand Pawar's resignation as a minister. However, the allegations were not proven, and Ajit was reinstated as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra.[23]
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".[24]