Ajit Pawar Dies: Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), died in a plane crash on Wednesday morning in Baramati.
Ajit Pawar was on his way to Baramati, the NCP stronghold, to attend a rally for the Zila Parishad elections when his chartered plane crashed, leaving all six on board, including him, dead.
Ajit Pawar’s death came amid speculation in Maharashtra’s political circles about a possible reunion with his uncle, Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar was reportedly considering merging the NCP factions and returning to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
The NCP suffered a split in 2023 when Ajit Pawar, along with many senior leaders, broke away from the party led by his uncle, veteran politician Sharad Pawar, and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition in Maharashtra.
‘Sanjay Raut’s hint’
Last week, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had expressed hope that Ajit Pawar would merge his faction with the NCP (Sharad Pawar), led by Sharad Pawar.
“Though Ajit Pawar is part of the Mahayuti alliance, he remains connected with the MVA. Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar will reunite as part of the MVA. Ajit Pawar cannot sit on two stools,” Raut had said.
The rebel ‘dada’
In 2019, Ajit Pawar had briefly joined the BJP government, becoming the Deputy Chief Minister in CM Devendra Fadnavis-led government. However, the government collapsed within 80 hours. Ajit Pawar returned to the NCP and Maha Vikas Aghadi.
In 2022, the Shiv Sena party split, and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed. In July 2023, Ajit Pawar split the NCP and joined the BJP-led Mahayuti government with the backing of a large group of MLAs. He was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister alongside Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis.
After the NCP split, the Election Commission granted Ajit Pawar’s faction the original party name and the ‘clock’ symbol, while Sharad Pawar’s faction was rebranded as NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). This meant a formal division of the NCP.
Ajit, or Ajit ‘dada’ as his supporters would call him, was also a habitual rebel in the Pawar-family-controlled NCP. In 2004, Ajit left the NCP stunned when he publicly opposed the party leadership’s decision to concede the chief ministership to the Congress.
In 2012, he suddenly resigned as Deputy CM amid accusations of irregularities in irrigation projects during his tenure as water resources minister, jeopardising the future of the Congress-led government, as other NCP ministers threatened to follow suit.
At the time, Pawar senior and his uncle stepped in to save the government.
Signs of Pawar reunion
There were signs of reconciliation since the Maharashtra municipal polls. The NCP contested the recent municipal elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad with NCP (SP). The battle in both civic bodies, however, ended in an anti-climax for the NCP-NCP (SP) alliance, with the BJP securing a landslide.
The Ajit Pawar-led party has also announced a tie-up with the NCP for the upcoming third phase of the civic body polls on 5 February. Both factions had agreed to contest under Ajit Pawar’s faction’s ‘clock’ symbol.
Pawar family members were spotted together at many functions, further adding to speculation of a reunion.
In an interview with the Times of India earlier this month, Ajit acknowledged that the bitterness between the two factions of the NCP had diminished. He hinted at a possible reunion with his uncle, stating that he believes in the politics of ‘addition, not subtraction.’
“There has been no discussion with Pawar Saheb yet. However, I want to make it clear that there are no permanent enemies in politics,” he said.
In a recent interview with The Indian Express, the NCP’s Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare spoke about the debacle of the NCP factions’ alliance in municipal polls and said that the NCP may hold merger talks with NCP(SP), but will remain with the NDA in Mumbai and Delhi.
What happens next?
While Ajit’s death will have a bearing on the Mahayuti government – a coalition dispensation of the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and his NCP.
The NCP has 41 MLAs in the current government, which is in a comfortable position.
While it remains to be seen who will become the NCP’s deputy chief minister, a bigger question is whether the two NCP factions will merge. Only time will tell.
About the Author
