A decade ago, when Sharad Pawar broke away from the Congress to form the NCP and the two parties managed to cobble together a coalition government in Maharashtra after fighting the polls separately, his little-known nephew declined the post of deputy chief minister saying his ambition was the top job in the state.

Over the past few days, 50-year-old Ajit Anantrao Pawar has seen both possibilities slip out of his hands. If the NCP’s second-place finish in the Assembly results put the chief minister’s post out of his reach, this week he let it be known that he wouldn’t be averse to the deputy’s position in the Congress-NCP’s third term in power, but was kept out.

The meeting of the NCP legislators in Mumbai to choose their leader was a rude shock to Ajit Pawar. Central observers Praful Patel, Tariq Anwar and D P Tripathi were at the party’s state headquarters to interact with the 62 new MLAs. Besides Ajit, the contenders for the post included incumbent deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal and the man who held the post before 26/11 forced him out, R R Patil.

Most MLAs favoured Ajit as there was a general feeling that Bhujbal had already got his due, having been made deputy CM twice, and having got his nephew Sameer elected to the Lok Sabha and son Pankaj to the Assembly.

However, Bhujbal made a fervent appeal for a fresh term, saying he had been an MLA since 1985 and had decided not to contest elections in the future. In the vacillation that followed, the matter was referred to Pawar Sr and Ajit, surprisingly, lost the battle. The party favoured Bhujbal — a founder member of the NCP and an OBC leader who has been with Pawar Sr since quitting the Shiv Sena.

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