Mumbai, February 23 Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday that Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash last month, was "the best CM the state never had".
Maharashtra has lost a towering leader and administrator, he said in a glowing tribute to Ajit Pawar in the state assembly on the first day of the legislature's budget session.
Ajit Pawar's shocking demise has created a political vacuum that will never be filled, the CM said, hailing the NCP leader, whose party is a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti in the state.
"Ajitdada (as Pawar was fondly called) and I share the same birthdate, but he was 11 years senior to me in age. He was my dada in the real sense. Ajitdada was the best CM Maharashtra never had," Fadnavis noted.
He said Ajit Pawar became deputy chief minister a record six times and had the capacity to lead the state.
There is political arithmetic to various decisions. Destiny would have fulfilled his wish sometime. "Ajitdada was always punctual, but this time his timing went wrong," Fadnavis said, referring to the plane crash near Baramati airstrip in Pune district on January 28.
He lauded Ajit Pawar for his transparent personality and being a workaholic. After the Mahayuti suffered losses in Maharashtra in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it was Ajit Pawar who toured the entire state to reconnect with the masses, the CM pointed out.
Fadnavis further said Ajit Pawar was never a politically correct person. He always implemented what he said and was a straightforward person, Fadnavis noted.
"Ajitdada was a leader who honoured the word he gave. In 2019, we decided to form a government together. But that didn't happen because his party's senior leadership decided to step back. Ajitdada stood by his word and we took the oath together.
"But he discussed with me and then went back to his original party after the court order went against us," Fadnavis recalled, referring to the two-day government formed by Fadnavis in alliance with Pawar before the Maha Vikas Aghadi came to power.
Fadnavis also said Ajit Pawar was the best finance minister any CM could ask for. This year, he would have presented his 12th budget and next year, he would have broken Sheshrao Wankhede's record of presenting 13 budgets, he noted.
Pawar pushed through the Ladki Bahin scheme, which provides financial assistance to women, overruling the finance department's reservations about its impact on the state exchequer, the CM said.
Fadnavis said he always spoke of NCP as a strategic partner, but Ajit Pawar was a close friend.
"He faced challenges and struggles head-on and never shied away from a public apology if he felt he was wrong," the BJP leader noted.
Fadnavis also recalled that Ajit Pawar loved milk with turmeric and kept his feet clean despite wearing chappals. He always came for meetings well prepared with notes, the CM added.
On January 27, Pawar attended the cabinet and infrastructure committee meetings and discussed why there was no gross value addition in capital expenditure. "No one would have imagined that it would be our last meeting," Fadnavis rued.
The CM also paid tributes to former ministers Surupsing Naik, Shalinitai Patil, Raj Purohit, Gangadhar Patne and former MLAs Nilkanth Phalak, Vishwas Nandekar, and Rooplekha Dhore who passed away recently.