NCP's 'Ajit Dada', go-getter and a man of comebacks

Ajit Pawar grew under the tutelage of his uncle Sharad Pawar and learnt tricks of the trade under his shadow but managed to carved a niche in Maharashtra politics early in his life.
However, the coveted post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra - that Ajit Pawar aspires to be, still eludes him.

The 63-year-old 'Dada', as he is popularly known, has always been in news - whether in Treasury or Opposition benches.

A former one-term Lok Sabha member from Baramati and a seven-time MLA from Baramati, Ajit has ministerial experience for over 20 years - and is the five-time Deputy Chief Minister.

Ajit is a no-nonsense administrator but the nephew of NCP founder-president often lands in controversies.

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Having handled several key portfolios like Finance, Power and Water Resources, he brings with him vast political experience.

He is son of late Anantrao Pawar, the elder brother of Sharad Pawar. Anantrao had initially worked for renowned film maker V Shantaram's Rajkamal Studios in Mumbai. He hails from the village of Katevadi in Baramati. Pawar made his foray into politics in 1982, when he was elected to the board of a cooperative sugar factory. He was elected as a chairman of the Pune District Co-operative Bank (PDC) in 1991 and remained in post for 16 years.

Before becoming an MLA, he was an MP from Baramati, but vacated the seat for Pawar, when the latter became the Defence Minister in the PV Narsimha Rao government.

Born on 22 July, 1959, he learnt politics from Pawar and now calls the shots in the party. He is the go-getter in NCP and calls a spade a spade.

When the Congress-NCP Democratic Front government was in power, Ajit landed in trouble when he said whether he should 'urinate" to fill dams during drought.

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His name figured in the alleged Rs 70,000-crore irrigation scam. Recently, the uncle-nephew duo were booked by the Mumbai police and Enforcement Directorate in the Rs 25,000 crore Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, after which he resigned as an MLA and also broke down.

After the BJP’s alliance with the Shiv Sena broke, Pawar became the Deputy Chief Minister with Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister but the government did not survive.

Thereafter, he joined the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government and handled the Finance portfolio.

After the MVA collapsed, he became the Leader of the Opposition in Assembly - but often faced charges that he was soft on Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government.

Ajit's biggest regret is that when they had an alliance with Congress - and in 2004 when the NCP got more seats, still his uncle gave the post to the Congress though in bargain extracted some good portfolios.

Dada missed the chance in 2014, but he is a man of comebacks.