The sudden death of an influential leader has left a political vacuum in India's richest state.


Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, died on Wednesday in a plane crash along with four others.


Maharashtra's political landscape is notoriously complex - a web of shifting alliances, regional loyalties and rivalries. And for decades, Ajit Pawar navigated it with a mixture of pragmatism and shrewdness, swiftly rising through the ranks.


Yet, beneath the public triumphs, his journey was also deeply personal: a struggle to emerge out of the formidable shadow of his uncle Sharad Pawar - the founder of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and a dominant figure in Indian politics.


Born in 1959, Ajit Pawar entered politics in the 1980s under his uncle's mentorship, particularly focusing on the Pawar family stronghold of Baramati, a rural area in western Maharashtra where sugar cooperatives, banks and local institutions helped secure both economic influence and political loyalty.


From an early age, Ajit Pawar was seen as the uncle's visible heir. But he was determined to forge his own path.


To many, Sharad Pawar represented old-school authority: patient and strategic, he was known for his coalition-building skills and political instincts. Ajit Pawar, on the other hand, focused on regional power, governance and control over local political networks.


His style was also markedly different. Where Sharad Pawar spoke in measured tones, Ajit Pawar was blunt and practical, his mercurial personality earning him both loyal supporters and vocal critics.


But as his authority grew, so did his frustration. Ajit Pawar had risen quickly through the ranks of NCP, yet he was often seen as a lieutenant rather than a leader. Decisions were still made by the elder Pawar.


The tensions simmered for years before erupting in public. In 2019, Ajit Pawar shocked Maharashtra by briefly breaking ranks with his uncle and aligning with the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government and claim the deputy chief minister's post.


His effort to strike out by himself collapsed within days, undone by Sharad Pawar who intervened to reclaim control of the party and help his allies form the government.


But for the first time, the family rift was out in the open. Ajit Pawar returned to the party, but the breach never fully healed.


Things finally came to head four years later in 2023, when Ajit Pawar broke away from his uncle's NCP party, joined a new governing coalition led by the BJP and claimed the post of the deputy chief minister once again. This time, he also managed to split his uncle's party and claim the name and electoral symbol of NCP as his own.


From then, family gatherings dwindled, public appearances were mostly separate, and the Pawar name, once seen as a single axis of power, fractured into two rival camps.


For Ajit Pawar's supporters, the defection was long overdue and a courageous step, reflecting his ability to adapt in India's political system, where even bitter ideological opponents might join hands to come to power. To critics, he symbolised opportunistic politics.


The rupture has since become one of the most remarked-upon political dramas in Maharashtra, one that transformed its fault lines.


In recent days, after civic elections in Pune and Mumbai, conversations had begun about the possibility of a reconciliation between the two factions of the NCP, led by uncle and nephew. Some speculated that Ajit Pawar might even emerge as the leader of a united party.


His sudden death has brought those possibilities to an abrupt halt. Questions now swirl about whether the lawmakers who had left with him will accept the authority of his cousin, Supriya Sule - Sharad Pawar's daughter - or his wife or son, and whether the fragile alliances he nurtured can endure.


Ajit Pawar leaves behind him a divided political legacy - and a reminder of how personal ambitions and familial ties can shape politics in the most surprising ways.