Ajit Pawar

Ajit Anantrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: [əd͡ʒit̪ pəʋaːɾ]; born 22 July 1959) is an Indian politician who has served as, alongside Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2 July, 2023. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2022 to 2023, and was a Member of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha in 1991, representing Baramati constituency. He has also been a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly since 1991, representing Baramati constituency.

He is the nephew of Sharad Pawar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party and a four-time former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He has been Deputy Chief Minister of the state the most number of times and is currently serving his 5th term. He has also been a Cabinet Minister in the Maharashtra government thrice: from 2004–2008, 2008–2009, and 2009–2010.

In 2019, he joined a government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and became the Deputy Chief Minister; he claimed to have the support of a majority of the NCP's MLA's, but resigned from his post, alongside then-CM Devendra Fadnavis. In 2023, he led another split in the NCP and became the Deputy Chief Minister in the cabinet of CM Eknath Shinde. Having the support of the majority of the erstwhile NCP's MLAs, he also claimed the position of president of the NCP, as well as the party's name and its electoral symbol.