AFTER contesting his first Lok Sabha election from Baramati constituency and winning with a huge margin, Ajit Pawar never looked back. He never lost a single election, winning the Baramati Assembly seat consecutively seven times.
After his grand arrival in the political arena, Ajit Pawar lost no time in consolidating his hold over his hometown of Baramati and the adjoining industrial city of Pimpri-Chinchwad. Pune City. First as a Congress leader and then as an NCP strongman, Ajit Pawar called the shots in both Baramati and Pimpri-Chinchwad, even as his uncle Sharad Pawar found more time for national politics. Ajit Pawar was aware of each and every development in the two cities.
Third on their agenda was the city of Pune, where until 2011 Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi held the fort. While in the city of Pune, the NCP was able to start ruling from 2007 until being overthrown in 2017, in Baramati and then in Pimpri-Chinchwad, the Pawars dominated for years. After his health started deteriorating, Sharad Pawar stayed away from the two cities while Ajit Pawar intensified his control over the two cities.
Ajit Pawar did not just play politics or try to outwit the opposition in every election, but focused intensely on ensuring the development of the two cities, say his close aides.
No wonder, then, that when the two cities (Baramati and Pimpri-Chinchwad) made rapid progress, something that other cities in Maharashtra lacked, Ajit Pawar’s stature and reputation grew as a ‘leader with a vision’.
“After Ajitdada won the 1991 elections, subsequently resigned and became an MP and minister, the development of Baramati saw rapid progress. While Pawar saheb had laid the foundation for the development of Baramati, Ajit Pawar did his best to accelerate the development,” said Kiran Gujar, a close aide and long-time friend of the Pawar family.
Gujar said that Ajit Pawar sweated all the time achieving all-round development of Baramati. “Be it infrastructure, basic amenities, health, education, drainage system, wide roads, footpaths, service roads or water supply, Baramati saw development on all fronts. Ajit Pawar was meticulous and a master of difficult tasks when it came to development. He was always direct and did not allow officials to take it easy. He wanted to execute each and every project on schedule. For this, he ensured that funds were not an issue as he himself was the Deputy Chief Minister since 2004 and he was the Minister of Finance as well.”
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Gujar said the Rs 750-crore museum on the life and times of Chhatrapati Shivaji was the biggest project Baramati had seen. “The museum is unique in Maharashtra. It has contributed to the glory of Baramati… We saw the way Ajitdada completed the project in Baramati, monitoring its progress all the time and very closely. It was something that was very close to his heart,” he said.
Imtiaz Shaikh, former NCP president of Baramati, said, “Which city in Maharashtra has cleanest water and that too 24×7? Baramati. Which city has a medical college, an Ayurvedic hospital, a women-only hospital, a hospital being developed for cancer patients…an upgraded civil hospital? Only Baramati. You can go around the state and you will find that the medical facilities available in Baramati cannot be compared with any other city of Maharashtra. All credit goes to Ajitdada, he was the architect of Baramati.”
Gujar said that 30 years ago, Baramati MIDC had only a handful of industries. “Today there are close to 100 large, medium and small industrial units… Baramati is a highly sought after location in Maharashtra to set up all types of industries due to its better infrastructure and better road connectivity,” he said.
While I was Deputy Chief Minister I spent five days a week in BombaySaturdays and Sundays were reserved for Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Baramati. At these places, Ajit Pawar was visiting and inspecting an ongoing project as early as 6 in the morning. He kept officials on their toes, who sometimes failed to respond to his questions about the slow pace of a development project.
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In Pimpri-Chinchwad, Ajit Pawar first led the NCP to victory in 2002, just a few years after the party’s inception. As soon as he took charge, Ajit Pawar started a “demolition mission” to widen roads across the city. As a result, the industrial city began to expand. Flyovers, bridges, metros, daily water supply, improved public transport, improved drainage system, better roads and other facilities in the famous Pimpri-Chinchwad-Bhosari MIDC area came up during the NCP government till 2017. Big names from the industrial sector settled here. Several schools and faculties, including engineering schools, were created in the industrial city. Residential and commercial projects emerged as Pimpri-Chinchwad emerged from the shadow of its elder sister, Pune city. Several Mumbaikars have started finding Pimpri-Chinchwad a better city to live in due to the availability of improved infrastructure.
“If Ajit Pawar had not pushed for the development of Pimpri-Chinchwad, it would never have developed the way it has. We even left the city of Pune far behind. Ajitdada’s dedication and determination and the way he carried out each and every project ensured that Pimpri-Chinchwad became a big name nationally and even globally,” said former mayor Yogesh Behl.
Dilip Band, who was municipal commissioner in 2004, said, “Ajit Pawar had brought me to PCMC. He gave me three years to develop the city. He bluntly told me to demolish all the structures that were hindering the expansion of roads. Ajit Pawar believed that roads were the lifeline of the city…”
Band said that when he started demolishing illegal structures that were hindering road widening, the administration faced political opposition as well as some bigwigs. “Ajit Pawar said do nothing, go ahead and ensure development,” Volume recalls.
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Echoing these sentiments, activist Manav Kamble said, “Ajit Pawar was not the typical politician concerned about his political existence. He was more concerned about how to increase the city’s stock through his development project. And hence, he always seemed to be a man in a hurry when it came to bringing new development projects. Pimpri-Chinchwad became a role model city in Maharashtra and the credit goes to Ajit Pawar.”
Political analyst Avinash Chilekar said, “Because Ajit Pawar came to Pimpri-Chinchwad with a development agenda and not a political agenda, the city saw rapid progress on all fronts. After the NCP was ousted from power, development works took a hit.”
It was in 2017 when the BJP ousted the NCP from power. It hurts Ajit Pawar a lot. In public meetings, rallies and press conferences, Ajit Pawar often spoke about the loss of the PCMC. He would regret that, despite ensuring rapid development of the city, his party was ousted from power.
While campaigning for this year’s PCMC elections, Ajit Pawar went on a rampage to regain power. He launched a full-scale war against the BJP, chanting its MLA Mahesh Landge. He alleged that there was widespread corruption in the PCMC. The BJP was recovered. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis He said he was hurt by Ajit Pawar’s attack on the BJP. The deputy CM, however, continued to make allegations against the BJP till the last day of campaigning.
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Their efforts, however, were unsuccessful. The NCP lost badly in both Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune city. “It is not about a loss, but about the way Ajitdada fought the elections. He raised the right issues. He spoke loud and clear against corruption and candidates with criminal backgrounds. The BJP had no answer for that,” NCP leader Ajit Gavhane said.