Ajit Dada was the best CM Maharashtra never had: Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: Tears rolled down the cheeks and eyes were moist as legislators, cutting across party lines, paid glowing tributes to Ajit Pawar with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis saying that he was the best Chief Minister that Maharashtra never had.

On the opening day of the Maharashtra legislature's budget session, rich tributes were paid to Ajit Pawar (66), popularly known as Ajit Dada, the Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President, who died in a plane crash on 28 January 2026 at his hometown of Baramati as the aircraft was making a approach towards the table-top runway.

In the Legislative Assembly, Fadnavis moved the condolence motion while in Legislative Council, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde moved the motion.

It was also the first day of proceedings for Ajit Pawar’s wife and newly-appointed Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar.

In a post on X, Sunetra Pawar said, “As Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Dada used to present the state's budget in the budget session. Today, I deeply miss his work that strengthened the tradition of financial discipline in the state.”

The MLAs and MLCs spoke about Ajit Pawar’s trait of calling a spade a spade, his boldness and his nature of being a stickler about time and cleanliness.

Leaders described Ajit Pawar as their guide, friend, trouble shooter, efficient administrator and a fine politician.

“Ajit Dada and I share the same birthdate… but he was 11 years senior to me in age. He was my Dada in the real sense…he always remained the Deputy Chief Minister, but today I would say he would have made an excellent Chief Minister. Ajit Dada was a leader of immense capability. Ajit Dada was the best Chief Minister that Maharashtra never had,” Fadnavis said.

“At the Mantralaya, the Chief Minister said, Ajit Pawar would arrive before everyone else. "He would get straight to work. No file would ever remain pending because of him…punctuality was the most important among them. Dada would always arrive before time, I would reach five minutes later, and Shinde Saheb sometimes a little late," he said.

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,” the CM said.

"Ajit Dada was a strong pillar of support for us, but now we have lost that support," Shinde said recalling his association with Ajit Pawar while in Maha Yuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi.

“When we went for project inspections, he would openly reprimand officials if needed. If work was to be done, it had to be done immediately; if it was not possible, he would say so clearly. And if something was wrong, he would not hesitate to pull people up," recalled Shinde.

Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that he has lost a dear friend. “I have lost a dear and good friend, it's true, but it is also true that Maharashtra has lost an efficient leader. In recent times, we have lost Gopinath Munde, R R Patil and Ajit Pawar, like great leaders, and this is a misfortune of Maharashtra. I never thought that I would be making a condolence speech about Ajit Dada, but unfortunately, we all have to do it," said Thackeray.