No other politician in Maharashtra truly lives up to his calling name - ‘Dada’ (big brother) - more than Ajit Pawar.
No other politician in Maharashtra truly lives up to his calling name - ‘Dada’ (big brother) - more than Ajit Pawar who was nominated by the NCP legislative party for the deputy chief minister’s post on Wednesday.
Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil in NCP and Narayan Rane in Congress, too, are called ‘Dada’ by their followers. But Ajit has been the true dada; his thundering voice unnerves everyone. “What can I do? My voice is indeed loud and that’s how it has been. It would have been the same had I not been Pawarsaheb’s nephew,” Ajit Pawar once explained.
Born on July 22, 1959, Pawar is a BCom from Shivaji University, Kolhapur. Married to Sunetra, Ajitdada has two sons, Parth and Jay.
His foray into politics took place as early as 1982 when he was elected to a sugar cooperative body. For a brief period, Pawar also represented Baramati in the Lok Sabha (between June and September 1991).
Thereafter, he moved to the state legislature and has been a legislator ever since, winning all elections in an effortless manner. But then, a Pawar hardly tastes defeat.
He first became minister in Sudhakarao Naik’s cabinet in 1991 and remained a minister of state till February 1993 when his uncle Sharad Pawar returned to the state as chief minister.
He came back as cabinet minister in Vilasrao Deshmukh’s cabinet. Though he never assumed any significant post in the state NCP, he has always been regarded as the true political heir.
After Sharad Pawar introduced his daughter Supriya Sule, there was a bit of confusion amongst the NCP rank and file about whom to follow. Despite this, Ajit continues to enjoy great backing across the state cadre.
Frank to the point of being called arrogant, Ajit Pawar’s funda has been simple: ‘Don’t say yes when you want to say no’. Despite his brazenness, his cabin in Mantralaya is one of the most crowded.
His visitors believe if he said yes, their work will be done. “I don’t want people to come back to me ten times only to realise their expectations will not be fulfiled. I don’t want them to say ‘Ajit didn’t keep his promise’. It’s better that I tell them I can’t help. That will at least save them ten rounds of Mantralaya,” he explains.
He is known to pick his followers. In 2004, it was Ajit Pawar who backed RR Patil to the hilt and made him deputy CM. After Patil fell from his favour, Ajit picked Sunil Tatkare as his Man Friday and has now made him the finance minister. He even risked the government in 2001 when NCP’s alliance with Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) rocked in Raigad.
His experiment, of aligning with Shiv Sena in Pune to keep a Suresh Kalmadi-led Congress at bay, did not go well with many in NCP, including Sharad Pawar. But even he could not dissuade Ajit, which speaks a lot about his style of functioning.
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