[22][23] At the young age of 27 in 1967, Pawar was nominated as the candidate for the Baramati of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly over more established members by the undivided Congress Party.

In the early 1970s, the chief minister at the time Vasantrao Naik had been in power for almost a decade, and there was jockeying for succession among different factions of the state Congress party.

At that time, looking to the future leadership of the party, Yashwantrao Chavan persuaded Naik to bring Pawar into his cabinet as state home affairs minister in March 1972.

Taking responsibility for the loss of a large number of seats in Maharashtra, chief minister Shankarrao Chavan resigned shortly afterward and was replaced by Vasantdada Patil.

In the state assembly elections held early in 1978, the two Congress parties ran separately, but then formed an alliance to keep power for Vasantdada Patil.

[26][27][28] This Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) government was dismissed in February 1980, following Indira Gandhi's return to power.

Congress (S) won 54 seats out of 288 in the state assembly, and Pawar became the leader of the opposition of the Progressive Democratic Front coalition, which included the BJP, PWP, and the Janata party.

In the state assembly elections of February 1990, the alliance between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party posed a stiff challenge to Congress.

Pawar was sworn in as chief minister again on 4 March 1990, with the support of 12 independent or unaffiliated members of the legislative assembly (MLAs).

[citation needed] Since the Congress contingent from Maharashtra was the largest, Pawar felt he had a legitimate claim for the post of prime minister.

[34] He attempted to justify this deception by claiming that it was a move to prevent communal riots, by falsely portraying that both Hindu and Muslim communities in the city had been affected adversely.

[34] In 1993, the Deputy Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, G. R. Khairnar, made a series of accusations against Pawar for being involved in corruption and protecting criminals.

Notable social worker Anna Hazare started a fast-unto-death to demand the expulsion of 12 officers of the Maharashtra state forest department who had been accused of corruption.

[38] Allegations were made that the mishap occurred because welfare minister Madhukarrao Pichad did not meet with the delegation of the Vanjari people in time.

[citation needed] In June 1997, Pawar unsuccessfully challenged Sitaram Kesri for the post of President of the Indian National Congress.

[citation needed] In 1999, after the 12th Lok Sabha was dissolved and elections to the 13th Lok Sabha were called, Pawar, P. A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar demanded that the party needed to propose someone native-born as the prime ministerial candidate, instead of the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, who had entered party politics and replaced Kesri as Congress president.

Critics also point out that during his tenure as the minister agriculture, he spent time on cricket in his role as the president of BCCI than on his ministerial duties.

He lost his ministerial position when the BJP-led NDA defeated the ruling UPA government, in which Pawar was the minister of agriculture, in the general elections of 2014.

However, differences between the Shiv Sena and the BJP led to a month of political drama, with Pawar and his family playing a pivotal roles.

[66] Sharad Pawar, the founder and chief of NCP since 1999, announced his decision to step down from his post and also his unwillingness to contest election in future,at the launch of the second edition of his political memoirs ' Lok Maze Sangati' ('People Accompany Me').

[69] Pawar has been appointed a member of the Coordination Committee of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance at its Mumbai convention on 1 September 2023.

The organisation now runs a number of schools at all levels, and colleges specialising in subjects such as information technology, and Biotechnology in Baramati and other locations.

BJP leader Eknath Khadse alleged that it was Balwa who had applied for environmental clearance for the two projects, a charge that Chordia refuted.

The institutions and properties mentioned include: These allocations were allegedly made by NCP leader and minister Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar who was in charge of MKVDC at the time.

[85][86] Pawar was served a contempt of court notice on 1 May 2008 in connection with this case for issuing statements to the press even though the matter was subjudice at the time.

[87][88] In 2010, in the case of tax exemptions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Shiv Sena MLA Subhash Desai alleged that the state cabinet decided in January to impose the tax, before the year's IPL season started, but the decision was not implemented because of NCP chief Pawar's association with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

[89] Bombay High Court in August 2010 said there was "nothing on record" to show that the Union Minister influenced the Maharashtra government's decision to exempt Indian Premier League matches from entertainment tax.

When Lavasa Corporation was receiving necessary clearances from the government of Maharashtra, relatives of Pawar had part-ownership of the company developing the project.

"[102] Pawar was slapped by a youth named Harvinder Singh at the New Delhi Municipal Corporation Centre while leaving the premises after attending a literary function on 24 November 2011.

In response to criticism that he was trying to stir up anti-Brahmin sentiment and appeal to Dalits, Pawar said that he wasn't rejecting any section of society but honoring his idols Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar, and Shahu Maharaj.