Plane Carrying Ajit Pawar Crashes in Baramati; Deputy CM, Four Others Dead

NCP chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash on Wednesday morning while travelling from Mumbai to Baramati. Four others, including the pilots and Pawar’s security personnel, also lost their lives in the accident. Officials confirmed that all five people on board the aircraft died. The small private aircraft took off from Mumbai around 8 am and crashed near Baramati airport during a landing attempt about 45 minutes later. Reports said Pawar was scheduled to attend four public meetings ahead of the upcoming local body elections. Visuals from the crash site showed flames, thick smoke, and the mangled remains of the aircraft, as ambulances rushed to the spot.

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Crash occurred while Ajit Pawar was travelling for local body poll meetings

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the flight was operated by VSR and involved a Learjet 45. Investigators have begun probing the cause of the crash. A similar aircraft of the same model had crashed in Mumbai in September 2023. Ajit Pawar, 66, was the nephew of NCP founder Sharad Pawar and the cousin of Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule. Sharad Pawar and Sule, who were in Delhi for the Parliament’s Budget Session, are expected to travel to Pune. The Pawar family and the Maharashtra government have not yet issued an official statement.

Nation mourns veteran leader with decades-long influence in Maharashtra politics

Pawar served as Deputy Chief Minister under four chief ministers and played a key role in Maharashtra politics for decades. In 2023, he led a split in the NCP and later joined the NDA government. Recently, both NCP factions had shown signs of reconciliation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Pawar’s death as “shocking and saddening” and praised his grassroots leadership. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed deep grief, while Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called the loss deeply distressing.

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