Mumbai, Dec 5 (IANS): NCP president Ajit Pawar on Thursday created a record in Maharashtra politics by becoming the Deputy Chief Minister for the sixth time.

Ajit Pawar, who grew up in state politics under the guidance of his estranged uncle and veteran politician Sharad Pawar, is credited for NCP’s stellar performance winning 41 seats from 59 contested in the state elections.

After he ditched his uncle and joined the MahaYuti in July 2023, Ajit Pawar decided not to return to his estranged uncle but spread his party’s wings with the help of new friends and allies in the BJP and Shiv Sena.

Ajit Pawar hogged the headlines after he took the oath as the Deputy Chief Minister in November 2019 without keeping his uncle in the loop. However, he came to the NCP fold after resigning as the Deputy Chief Minister which led to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's resignation.

Despite his political adventure, he was later again appointed as Deputy Chief Minister in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government. After its collapse, he outpaced party colleague Jayant Patil by becoming the Leader of the Opposition.

However, after his move to desert Sharad Pawar and join MahaYuti, he again became Deputy Chief Minister in July 2023.

He succeeded in getting the party’s name and party’s poll symbol clock from the Election Commission though the matter is still pending final orders with the Supreme Court.

Ajit Pawar took a bold decision to field his wife Sunetra against his estranged cousin Supriya Sule in the Lok Sabha elections to give a strong indication to the party cadres that he has cut off his relations with Sharad Pawar and there was no question of going back to him. However, Sunetra Pawar lost to Supriya Sule.

Ajit Pawar was ridiculed by his opponents but he worked hard to focus on strengthening the party organisation by promoting a slew of welfare and development schemes including Ladki Bahin Yojana in the run-up to the state assembly elections.

His move to further increase his outreach with the voters by extensively travelling the state paid off as NCP won 41 seats and strengthened its position as a trusted ally in MahaYuti and also in the NDA. He thereby outsmarted the Sharad Pawar-led faction and claimed that the NCP led by him was a real NCP.

Known for his rough and tough talk, Ajit Pawar made conscious efforts to change his image which also helped him increase his communication with the cadres.

Ajit Pawar is elected from Baramati assembly constituency for a record eighth term. In 1991, he was elected as the chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank and continued to hold the post for 16 years.

He was also elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1991 from the Baramati seat. He later vacated the seat for his uncle Sharad Pawar who later joined the Narasimha Rao-led cabinet as the Defence Minister.

Known for being a strict administrator, Ajit Pawar held several ministries including energy, irrigation, finance and planning. Amid the irrigation scam raked up by the opposition, Ajit Pawar had stepped down from the post of Deputy Chief Minister’s post for some time but later was inducted again in the state cabinet.

He also faced a media trial over the alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank and in the taking over sick cooperative sugar factories in the state.