Ajit Pawar dies: The strategist who dominated Maharashtra's political maths

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar died on Wednesday morning after a chartered aircraft crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Baramati airport. Two pilots and his two security personnel were also killed in the accident.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died on Wednesday after the plane he was travelling in crashed while attempting to land in Baramati. The crash has cut short the career of one of Maharashtra’s most influential and enduring political figures. Pawar was 66.

Born on July 22, 1959, in Deolali Pravara in Ahmednagar district, Ajit Pawar grew up in a family deeply woven into Maharashtra’s public life.

His early years were spent around the cooperative institutions that have shaped politics in western Maharashtra. It was here that he built his first networks, working with sugar factories, milk unions and local banks long before he took on major political office.

Pawar's formal political rise began in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After initial stints in local bodies and the cooperative sector, he won the Baramati Assembly seat, a constituency he went on to represent term after term.

From there, Pawar’s climb was steady. He became known for his administrative efficiency and for wielding considerable influence in state policy, especially in finance, irrigation and rural development.

Pawar served multiple terms as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, making him one of the longest-serving politicians in that role. Across different governments, regardless of shifting alliances, he remained central to budget-making and bureaucratic decision-making.