 "Nationalist Congress Party's Ajit Pawar and his family members shows their finger marked with indelible ink after casting vote during Maharashtra Assembly elections, at Zilla Parishad school, in Baramati of Pune district, October 21, 2019. File Photo/PTI")
Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s demise in a plane crash has sent shockwaves across the country. Leaders across the political spectrum have condoled his death, with the Maharashtra government declaring three days of state mourning.
Flight tracking data revealed that the Learjet 45 private aircraft flew for around 35 minutes before crashing near Baramati, killing all five, including Ajit, on board. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to probe the crash.
As Maharashtra loses one of its most prominent politicians, we take a look at the Pawar family.
Meet the senior Pawars
The Pawars are a powerful political clan in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar ’s grandparents were Govindrao and Shardabai Pawar, who had seven sons and four daughters.
Sharad Pawar, Ajit’s uncle, was the eighth child. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) patriarch’s mother, Shardabai, was associated with the Peasants and Workers Party and the Congress. In 1938, she was elected unopposed in the Pune local board elections, making her among the few women politicians in the Pune district, as per Indian Express.
Govindrao Pawar was actively engaged in cooperative movements and local governance in Baramati.
Sharad Pawar’s eldest brother, Vasantrao, a renowned lawyer, was killed over a land dispute.
The NCP’s patriarch’s three other older brothers — Dinkarrao, Anantrao and Madhavrao — are also deceased.
Suryakant, an architect with interests in the real estate sector, is followed by Sarla Jagtap and Saroj Patil, the wife of the late Narayan Dyandeo Patil.
Sharad Pawar’s younger siblings are sister Meena Jagdhane; brother Pratap, the head of the Sakal group of newspapers; and youngest sister Neela Sasane.
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View AllAjit Pawar’s family tree
Ajit Pawar was the son of Anantrao Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s elder brother, and Ashatai Pawar. He was born on July 22, 1959, in Deolali Pravara, a village in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district.
Ajit had a younger brother, Shrinivas, who is an industrialist, and a sister, Vijaya Patil, who worked in the media and died in 2017.
Ajit is survived by his wife, Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, and their two sons – Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar.
Sunetra, the daughter of former Maharashtra minister Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, became the fifth Pawar to hold public office when she entered the Upper House in 2024.
Ajit Pawar’s elder son, Parth, is actively involved in politics. He had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from the Maval constituency in 2019.
Since then, Parth has largely stayed away from active political roles and has not held any elected office or party position. His name recently cropped up in an alleged Rs 300 crore land deal controversy.
Jay Pawar has shied away from electoral politics so far. As per ThePrint, he was largely involved in the family’s businesses in Dubai until 2023.
Last month, Jay tied the knot with long-time friend Rutuja Patil in Bahrain. She worked for the public relations agency, Adfactors PR, before joining her father, Pravin Patil’s consultancy, ElevateEdge Consulting Group.
In September 2024, Jay expressed interest in electoral politics, saying he wished to work for the people of Baramati like his father. But he added that the decision to contest the Assembly elections will be taken by the NCP leadership.
Earlier in 2023, Ajit Pawar had split the NCP, taking away several leaders from his uncle’s party with him.
The other Pawars
Sharad Pawar, the family patriarch and founder of the NCP, is married to Pratibha Pawar. Their daughter, Supriya Sule, is the Lok Sabha MP from Baramati.
Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew Rohit is an MLA from the Karjat-Jamkhed constituency. Ajit’s younger brother Shrinivas’ son Yugendra is a director and the CEO of Phaltan-based Sharayu Agro India Ltd, which runs the Sharayu Sugar factory.
Yugendra Pawar was seen as Ajit’s potential rival in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections.
With inputs from agencies