After Ajit Pawar’s Death, Who Leads the NCP and the Powerful Pawar Family?

Ajit Pawar's sudden death in a Learjet 45 crash near Baramati at 8:45 am on Wednesday has shaken Maharashtra's political world. The chartered flight, heading from Mumbai to Baramati, went down during landing and killed all five people on board. No one survived.

This isn't just a personal tragedy for the Pawar family. Ajit's death leaves a huge gap, especially inside the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Pawar family itself-both of which have shaped Maharashtra politics for years. Now, everyone's watching to see who takes charge, whether the broken NCP can pull itself back together, or if the splits just get worse.

Ajit Pawar was 66. People saw him as the glue holding together different branches of the Pawar family and the state's power network. Losing him throws not just the government's numbers off, but also long-term plans for who leads next.

So, who's left? Ajit was Anantrao Pawar's son (Anantrao being Sharad Pawar's elder brother), which made Ajit the senior nephew in the family. He leaves behind his wife, Sunetra Pawar (she's in the Rajya Sabha), and their two sons, Parth and Jay.

Now, this immediate family sits at the center of the NCP group Ajit led. Parth, the older son, once ran for the Maval Lok Sabha seat. Jay has mostly stayed out of the political spotlight. Both are important-grandnephews to Sharad Pawar and close to Supriya Sule, who leads NCP (Sharad Pawar) and is Sharad Pawar's daughter.

But the Pawar family tree is a lot bigger. Sharad Pawar himself, now 85, is one of 11 siblings. He's long been the clan's main force. Then there's Dinkarrao Pawar, another brother, who's the grandfather of Rohit Pawar-the MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed and probably the most prominent third-generation Pawar in politics right now.

All these overlapping ties have caused both teamwork and rivalry. Supriya Sule and Ajit are first cousins. Rohit, son of Rajendra Pawar, is Ajit's nephew and Sharad's grandnephew-caught right in the middle of the family's political cross-currents.

This tangled web is now at the heart of both party and family succession battles.

You can't ignore the NCP's big split in July 2023. On July 2, Ajit Pawar shocked everyone by joining the BJP-Shiv Sena government as Deputy Chief Minister, taking a chunk of NCP MLAs with him. The Election Commission ended up recognizing Ajit's group as the "official" NCP, letting them keep the party's clock symbol.

Sharad Pawar and his loyalists fired back by creating NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), deepening both political and family rifts. The split carved up Maharashtra's political map, pitting Sharad's direct descendants, Ajit's immediate family, and younger leaders like Rohit Pawar against each other.

Lately, though, there were some signs of patching things up. Leaders from both camps worked together on local election strategies, and they even put out a joint NCP manifesto for the upcoming Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections in January 2026. People started wondering if a bigger reunion was possible.

Now, with Ajit gone, that fragile peace is up in the air. Some say Sharad Pawar might try to bring Ajit's sons-Parth and Jay-closer to NCP (SP), a kind of "homecoming." If that happens, the two could go from being heirs to a rival group to bridge-builders in a reunited party.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on the next generation. Will leadership settle around Supriya Sule, or will it drift toward Rohit Pawar, who stuck with Sharad during last year's split and has been quietly building his base? Supriya is often seen as Sharad's natural successor on the national scene, but Rohit's profile in state politics keeps rising.

Ajit's death might also change Sharad Pawar's own plans. He'd talked about stepping back from active politics by the end of 2026. Ajit was both the family's steady hand and the party's go-to guy. Without him, Sharad may rethink his retirement just to keep things stable inside what many call the "Pawar political empire."

 In Baramati and across Maharashtra, the mood remains sombre. Ajit Pawar's sudden death has ended a 36-year political career, but it has also opened a complex chapter for the Pawar family, the Nationalist Congress Party and the future direction of Maharashtra politics.