Sharad Pawar

Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar is an Indian politician who has served as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha since 2014, representing the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar. Pawar has served three terms as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and held cabinet positions in the Union Council of Ministers, including the Minister of Defence under P. V. Narasimha Rao and the Minister of Agriculture under Manmohan Singh. He founded the original NCP in 1999; however, following a party split in July 2023, he now leads the NCP faction, following a split from the Indian National Congress. Pawar has been involved in several coalition governments and political alliances in Maharashtra.