3 minutes of readingPuneUpdated: January 29, 2026 12:23 am IST
Rajendra Dhaval Patil, former director of the Malegaon sugar cooperative in Baramati, was in no condition to speak when he heard the tragic news. Patil, who is the chief of Western Maharashtra farmers’ organization Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, said that though politically they were polar opposites, Ajit Pawar always respected sugarcane farmers.”
When in 2019-20 the Malegaon Karkhana was ready to vote, he called me and asked me to participate in the panel that he supported as a farmer representative. “He never asked me to join his party,” he said.
Patil said that while working as a director, he saw the deputy chief minister working closely with factories to ensure that farmers received their payments on time. “He even called the mills that delayed payment and urged them to pay on time… for him, the farmer was the foundation of the economy,” he said.
As a resident of Baramati, Patil said Pawar was instrumental in transforming the once small agricultural area into technologically driven agricultural development zones. “In Baramati he was the son of the soil; he gave everyone time and listened to the people; the area has now lost its guardian,” he said.
It is known that the sugar industry of Maharashtra was the stronghold of Ajit Pawar and Dy CM always decided to keep the sector under his rule. With his death, members of the sector believe that they have also lost their leader.
Shahaji Gaikwad, Managing Director of Daund Sugar Private Limited, spoke of how Pawar had an eye for details in the functioning of each sugar mill. “Be it technical management of factories or availability of bags, Dada kept abreast of every detail of the industry. He wanted to make the technology available to farmers but at an affordable cost,” he said. Gaikwad felt that the region had lost a vital guardian.