Baramati, Ajit Pawar's karmabhoomi, shaped him and saw him off

Baramati, the constituency that first elected Ajit Pawar to Lok Sabha, not only shaped his political journey but also became the place of his final passage.

Baramati, the place that shaped Ajit Pawar after his first election to the Lok Sabha, is coincidentally also the place that saw him off. Pawar, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, died on Wednesday morning after the plane he was travelling in crashed while attempting a landing. He was on his way to Baramati to hold four key meetings ahead of the local elections.

Pawar entered politics in 1985, but his political breakthrough came in 1991 when he won from Baramati, a constituency he would go on to retain repeatedly. The region became his training ground, where he mastered the art of grassroots mobilisation and financial management.

The longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra non-consecutively, Pawar served six terms under various governments. He worked in the cabinets of Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.

A key figure in Maharashtra politics, Pawar often spoke of his vision for the state. Yet, it would not be wrong to say that it was Baramati that truly shaped him. Born on July 22, 1959, Ajit Pawar was fondly known as “Ajit Dada” among the people for his grassroots connect and tireless efforts for the people of Maharashtra.

Pawar was a seven-time MLA from the Baramati Assembly constituency. He first won in a 1991 by-election and subsequently in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. He later vacated the seat for his uncle Sharad Pawar, who went on to become Defence Minister in Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao’s government.

He remained influential in the Baramati region, winning the Assembly seat for a record eighth time in the 2024 state polls. The political bastion stayed with him despite a split in the NDA, with his uncle Sharad Pawar controlling the other camp.