Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar Dies in Plane Crash in Baramati

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and several others were killed on Wednesday morning after the aircraft carrying them crashed while attempting to land at Baramati airport in Pune district.

Four others, including the pilots and members of his security detail, were also killed.

The small aircraft, a Learjet 45 operated by VSR, took off from Mumbai around 8 am and crashed while attempting to land near Baramati airport about 45 minutes later.

Pawar was scheduled to attend a series of public meetings in Baramati ahead of the upcoming local body elections.

Visuals from the crash site showed thick smoke, flames and the wreckage of the aircraft, as emergency teams rushed to the spot. Ambulances were seen transporting the injured, though the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) later confirmed that all five people on board had died in the accident.

Pawar, 66, was a senior leader of the NCP and a prominent face in Maharashtra politics for over three decades. He was the nephew of veteran politician and NCP founder Sharad Pawar and the cousin of Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule.

Sharad Pawar and Sule, who were in New Delhi for the ongoing Parliament session, are expected to travel to Pune shortly.

In 2023, Ajit Pawar led a split in the NCP, resulting in the formation of two factions—one led by him and the other by Sharad Pawar. He later joined the NDA government in Maharashtra and took oath as Deputy Chief Minister.

In recent months, there had been signs of rapprochement between the two factions, including their joint participation in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over Pawar’s death, calling it “shocking and saddening”.

In a post on X, Modi said Pawar was a mass leader with a strong grassroots connect and praised his administrative understanding and commitment to public service.

Ajit Pawar had served as Deputy Chief Minister under four chief ministers—Prithviraj Chavan, Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis.

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