Ajit Pawar dies amid reunion buzz with uncle Sharad Pawar. All eyes on what happens next in Maharashtra

Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), died in a plane crash on Wednesday morning in Baramati.

Ajit Pawar was on his way to Baramati, the NCP stronghold, to attend a rally for the Zilla Parishad elections when his chartered plane crashed, leaving all six on board, including Ajit Pawar, dead.

The NCP suffered a split in 2023 when Ajit Pawar, along with many senior leaders, broke away from the party led by his uncle and veteran politician Sharad Pawar and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition in Maharashtra.

Ajit Pawar’s death came amid speculation about a possible reconciliation between the uncle and nephew that was doing the rounds in Maharashtra political circles. Ajit Pawar was reportedly considering a return to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.

Last week, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had expressed hope that Ajit Pawar would merge his faction with the NCP (Sharad Pawar), led by Sharad Pawar. "Though Ajit Pawar is part of the Mahayuti alliance, he remains connected with the MVA. Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar will reunite as part of the MVA. Ajit Pawar cannot sit on two stools," Raut had said.

After the NCP split, the Election Commission granted Ajit Pawar's faction the original party name and the ‘clock’ symbol, while Sharad Pawar’s faction was rebranded as NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).

The rebel 'dada'

Ajit, or Ajit 'dada' as his supporters would call him, had rebelled earlier, too. In 2019, he defected from the NCP to join the BJP government, becoming the Deputy Chief Minister in Devendra Fadnavis-led government. However, the government collapsed within 80 hours. Ajit Pawar returned to the NCP and Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Even in 2004, Ajit left the NCP stunned when he publicly opposed the party leadership’s decision to concede the chief ministership to the Congress.

In 2012, he suddenly resigned as Deputy CM amid accusations of irregularities in irrigation projects during his tenure as water resources minister, jeopardising the future of the Congress-led government, as other NCP ministers threatened to follow suit. At the time, Pawar senior and his uncle stepped in to save the government.

The Ajit Pawar-led party has also announced a tie-up with the NCP for the upcoming third phase of the civic body polls on 5 February. Both factions had agreed to contest under Ajit Pawar’s faction's ‘clock’ symbol.

Pawar family members were spotted together at many functions, further adding to speculation of a reunion.

In an interview with the Times of India earlier this month, Ajit acknowledged that the bitterness between the two factions of the NCP had diminished. He hinted at a possible reunion with his uncle, stating that he believes in the politics of 'addition, not subtraction.' "There has been no discussion with Pawar Saheb yet. However, I want to make it clear that there are no permanent enemies in politics," he said.

In a recent interview with The Indian Express, the NCP’s Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare spoke about the debacle of the NCP factions’ alliance in municipal polls and said that NCP may hold merger talks with NCP(SP), but will remain with NDA in Mumbai, Delhi.

While Ajit’s death will have a bearing on the Mahayuti government – a coalition dispensation 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 comfortable position.

While it remains to be seen who becomes the deputy chief minister from the NCP a bigger question, that, however, remains is if at all the two NCP factions merge or not?

Ajit returned to the NCP, and on 1 December 2019, it was announced that he would take over as Deputy CM for the Maha Vikas Aghadi government after the start of the winter session of the state legislature on 16 December.

In 2022, the Shiv Sena party split, and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed. In July 2023, Ajit Pawar split the NCP and joined the BJP-led Mahayuti government with the backing of a large group of MLAs. He was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister alongside Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis. This meant a formal division of the NCP into two factions. The Pawar-led faction received the name and symbol from the Election Commission of India.