India, Jan. 30 -- As Baramati struggles to come to terms with the sudden loss of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, a deeper anxiety has begun to surface among residents of his hometown in Pune district: what happens next to the town he shaped for decades.

For years, Pawar was seen as the driving force behind Baramati's transformation. Locals from the sugarcane-growing region say development rarely required demands or petitions. Projects and initiatives, they recall, often came from Pawar himself, driven by what many describe as his personal interest in the town's growth.

A day after Pawar, who died in a plane crash near Baramati, was cremated with full state honours, grief gave way to uncertainty. Many residents said his abs...