Ajit Pawar was a notable political leader in Maharashtra who influenced the State’s political landscape for almost four decades.
He started his political career with the Indian National Congress in the late 1980s, influenced by his uncle Sharad Pawar. Later, he joined Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) upon its formation in 1999 and served several terms as Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister in coalitions led by the NCP over the past two decades.
In November 2019, Ajit Pawar briefly left the NCP to serve as Deputy Chief Minister in a BJP cabinet and later returned to the party. By 2023, he had initiated a split within the NCP, aligning with the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition. In February 2024, the Election Commission of India acknowledged his faction as the official NCP.
With alliance with Mahayuti, Ajit Pawar became the State’s Deputy Chief Minister again for the sixth term.
Ajit Pawar became the youngest member of the Sudhakarrao Naik Cabinet after winning a record margin of votes from Baramati. He was sworn in by the Maharashtra Governor C. Subramaniam at Raj Bhavan in June 1991.
