The politician who came out of his uncle’s shadowpublished at 10:20 GMT 28 January
Cherylann Mollan
Reporting from Mumbai
Image source, Getty Images
For a large part of his political career, Ajit Pawar remained in his uncle Sharad Pawar’s shadow.
He began his political career with the Congress party, where the senior Pawar was already a top leader at the time.
When Sharad Pawar left the Congress in 1999 to form the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Ajit followed, and rose through the party’s ranks swiftly.
He has been an MP and MLA in Maharashtra and served as the state’s deputy chief minister within various governments.
In 2023, Pawar split from his uncle’s party and joined the state’s BJP-led government with the backing of a large group of party members.
His rebellion earned him the deputy chief minister post but divided the NCP into two factions and ended decades of political unity within his own family.
Political analyst Abhay Deshpande says that in recent months, there was talk of a reunion between uncle and nephew.
“Now, we’ll never see that day. But maybe his [Ajit Pawar’s] death will bring the family together again,” he says.
