How Ajit Pawar's death leaves Maha politics facing biggest questions in years

Ajit Pawar's sudden death has left a void in Maharashtra politics. A mass leader, power broker and strategist, his absence might unsettle the ruling Mahayuti and throw the future of a divided NCP into doubt. It raises questions over leadership and succession in the NCP camp.

For entire generations, it is difficult to imagine Maharashtra's political scenario without Ajit Pawar. The longest-serving deputy chief minister of Maharashtra non-consecutively, Pawar remained one of its alternative power centres. His death in an air crash in Baramati on Wednesday, plunges Maharashtra politics, and especially the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) into a phase of uncertainty.

The flexibility of being Ajit Pawar is visible in how many diverse equations he managed to fit himself into. He served as the deputy CM for six terms in the Cabinets of Prithviraj Chavan, Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis.

His faction of the NCP, which has the official party tag and emblem, is part of the current Fadnavis government in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar died as the serving deputy chief minister.

His passing will have a bearing on the Mahayuti government which is a coalition 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 solid position.

However, the biggest impact his death will have is on the NCP, both his party and the NCP (SP), the faction headed by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

It is the Ajit Pawar faction that has more political heft now, with 41 MLAs and a Lok Sabha MP.