Will Ajit Pawar be the next NCP chief? The many ambitions of Sharad Pawar’s nephew

Sharad Pawar on Tuesday dropped the earth-shaking political news that he was quitting as the Nationalist Congress Party chief. The veteran politico and ex-Maharashtra chief minister said he is stepping back and that it is time for a ‘new generation’ to guide the party. ANI quoted his nephew Ajit as saying, “Pawar Saheb himself had said about the necessity of change in guard a few days back. We should see his decision in the light of his age and health also. Everyone has to take a decision according to time, Pawar Saheb has taken a decision and he won’t take it back.” Which raises the question – will Ajit be the next NCP chief? Let’s take a closer look: According to Indian Express, Ajit, the son of Pawar’s elder brother Anantrao, began being seen beside his uncle around 1991 and 1992. He first gained fame after Pawar formed the NCP and even became a cabinet minister in the Congress-NCP government. Ajit then headed up a slew of ministries including irrigation, rural development, water resources and finance. Ajit gained the reputation for getting things done and brought in fresh blood into the NCP – all of whom were loyal to him. The first hint of turmoil came in 2004 when Ajit publicly spoke against the NCP, which had emerged as the single-largest party in Maharashtra, giving the chief ministership to the Congress. According to News18, Ajit missed his chance to become chief minister after Pawar’s demanded more cabinet berths instead of the CM’s post.

Ajit was then made deputy chief minister.

The political plunge by Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule in 2009 brought murmurs of tensions within the NCP.  Talk of tensions flared up again in 2019 when Pawar’s grandnephew Rohit decided to dip his toes in the political waters. According to Times Now, this came at the same time that Ajit wanted his son Parth to contest Lok Sabha polls from Maval. While Pawar was initially not in favour of this, the party ended up giving Parth a ticket – only for him to lose by a massive 2 lakh votes. That caused further stress between Pawar and Ajit – the uncle was disappointed at the party loss, while the nephew was upset at his son not being fully backed by the party. [caption id=“attachment_12536752” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Sharad Pawar announcing that he is resigning from the post of NCP president. Twitter/@PawarSpeaks[/caption] In September 2019, Ajit resigned as a party legislator from Baramati. Then, in November 2019, came a truly stunning event – Ajit swearing an oath as deputy chief minister in the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet. That government collapsed quickly and Ajit quickly returned to the NCP fold – events neither man has publicly addressed. In April, Ajit in an interview expressed his desire to become Maharashtra chief minister, as per Hindustan Times. That led to party leaders Sunil Tatkare and Dilip Walse Patil echoing Ajit and workers putting up hoardings proclaiming that Ajit would be a future chief minister. A senior NCP leader told the newspaper Ajit was sending a message – that he was the party leader at the state level. Sule, meanwhile, told ANI, “There is nothing wrong to have ambition or a dream in politics, everybody has it, so I don’t think there is anything wrong with saying openly about it. In fact, he is very honest in talking about his ambition.” This even as rumours swirled that Ajit was preparing to decamp to the BJP with 40 MLAs and that he was in constant touch with Fadnavis and Amit Shah, as per Deccan Herald. Ajit at first said nothing and then emphatically denied it.  Pawar, meanwhile, held a meeting with Uddhav Thackeray. Deccan Herald quoted insiders as saying Pawar is predisposed towards appointing his daughter as his heir, but is wary of Ajit’s influence within the party.

Others told the newspaper he could be ‘preparing the ground for Ajit to leave’.

Those rumours came as the Supreme Court prepares to give its verdict on the disqualification of 16 legislators who brought down the Uddhav-led MVA regime after Eknath Shinde engineered a split and formed the government with the BJP support. Political commentators told India Today if the Supreme Court rules against Shinde, Fadnavis and the BJP would require help from Ajit. Political analyst Prakash Akolkar told Deccan Herald it is ‘game of confusion’. “All the leaders are trying to create an air of confusion and keep others in good humour. No one would like to hazard a guess on the Supreme Court judgment, particularly when a Constitution Bench is involved.” Rival power centres Meanwhile, Ajit has to deal with another complication before he could potentially take the chair – that of Sule and NCP Maharashtra president Jayant Patil emerging as rival power centres within the NCP. Sule in April predicted two ‘political earthquakes’ within 15 days, as per India Today. While NCP workers have urged Sule to talk Pawar out of his decision, Ajit has publicly advised against it, as per Hindustan Times. “I am her elder brother and that is why I am suggesting her this,” Ajit said. Meanwhile, Patil has quietly developed his own power base since becoming Maharashtra chief. “Patil has created a place for himself within the party. Although Ajit dada was always a power centre, Patil’s clout has grown phenomenally since he became the party president,” political analyst Pratap Asbe told The Print. “Patil has ambitions for himself and there is a definite competition between him and Ajit dada. Sule is not as aggressive in asserting her position within the party, but her supporters keep raising her flag for her. Ultimately, Pawarsaheb (Sharad Pawar) ensures that the clash of ambitions doesn’t cause the party any damage,” he added. It remains to be seen how things play out. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.