Under ED scanner, Sharad Pawar kin and NCP rising star: Who is Rohit Pawar?

The agency says that these factories were subsequently sold to kin of the accused much below the market value.

For Rohit, who shot into the limelight earlier this year and is looking to rise up the NCP ladder, the ED action may be a setback. But he did not seem deterred on Friday. Even though he did not issue an official statement, he posted photograph of gods and Maharashtra icons on X, writing: “The land of Maharashtra has a long history of struggle…This is the face of a proud and progressive Maharashtra which preserved and developed Maharashtra Dharma for generations.”

The Pawar-led NCP faction also backed him immediately, with party spokesperson Clyde Castro saying that Rohit will come out stronger, adding that his “Sangharsh Yatra” had a “hit a nerve and made the BJP insecure”.

Seven months ago, it was a united NCP, with Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar together putting up a united front despite the many differences. After Ajit rebelled, split the party, joined the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena coalition and took over the Deputy CM post, Rohit found his moment to shine. He was quick to spell out his allegiance. Shortly after Ajit took oath as Deputy CM, Rohit said he stood fully behind Sharad Pawar.

Addressing reporters at the time, he had said: “With the things that have been happening in Maharashtra over the last one year, voters are saying that politics has become filthy. They are feeling disgusted and wondering if they made a mistake by casting their votes. Even young MLAs who came to politics with some idealism are wondering if they made a mistake. People of the state are seeing their issues being sidelined. Leaders are trying to secure their own chairs and meet their personal goals.”

NCP leaders had told The Indian Express at the time that the split in the party might be an opportune moment for Rohit to grow within the party. An NCP source said Rohit had become popular in his constituency and party.

A close aide of Rohit said that the leader’s outspokenness could work in his favour. “Unlike Ajit, Rohit never held back in attacking the BJP, or Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.” The source also said that Rohit had “big ambitions”.

And then came the big opportunity to prove his mettle: the Sangharsh yatra, which he started off on Dusshera in October.

The yatra, pitched as one for youth, covering 800 km from Pune to Nagpur on foot, ran into Maratha quota protests four days after it began. The 38-year-old then suspended it, till “things became normal”. Rohit resumed the yatra on November 17; it ended on December 10.

Cricket administrator to MLA

Rohit first made news in 2019 when he contested his first Assembly election from the Karjat-Jamkhed constituency in the Ahmednagar district, away from the family bastion of Baramati where the Pawars have never suffered a defeat.

He ended up defeating BJP heavyweight Ram Shinde, a minister in the then Fadnavis government, with a margin of 40,000 votes. Rohit was also the star campaigner for the NCP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

He also served as the president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association. The revival of the Maharashtra Premier League as a showpiece event was credited to him.