Sharad Govindrao Pawar (born 12 December 1940), is an Indian politician with over sixty years of public service. He holds a position of prominence in Indian politics as well as in the regional politics of Maharashtra. During his long career, Pawar has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on three occasions and held the posts of Minister of Defence and Minister of Agriculture in the Government of India. He is president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which he founded in 1999, after separating from the Indian National Congress. He leads the NCP delegation in the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Indian parliament. He is one of the founders of Maha Vikas Aghadi, a post-poll alliance in Maharashtra between Shivsena, NCP, and INC.