Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash on Wednesday morning, according to officials.
As per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), a chartered aircraft flying from Mumbai to Baramati crash-landed near the runway threshold at Baramati airport at around 8:45 am. Five people, including two crew members, were on board the aircraft and all of them died in the accident.
Ajit Pawar was travelling in the aircraft along with his personal security officer (PSO) and an attendant. The DGCA said further details regarding the cause of the crash are awaited, and an investigation has been initiated.
Pawar was on his way to Baramati to attend a public rally in connection with the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections. On Tuesday, he was in Mumbai, where he participated in a meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Several ministers, including Chandrashekhar Bawankule, and senior officials were present at the meeting.
Ajit Pawar was among the longest-serving Deputy Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, having held the position six times in a non-consecutive manner under different governments. He served as Deputy Chief Minister during the tenures of Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray, and Eknath Shinde.
He is survived by his wife Sunetra Pawar and their two sons, Jay Pawar and Parth Pawar.
Pawar began his political career in 1982 after being elected to the board of a cooperative sugar factory. In 1991, he became the chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank. The same year, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Baramati constituency before later vacating the seat for his uncle, Sharad Pawar.
He was elected seven times to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Baramati, first winning a by-election in 1991 and later securing victories in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014.
In November 2019, Ajit Pawar engineered a split in the NCP and briefly joined a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government as Deputy Chief Minister. In February 2024, the Election Commission awarded the party name and symbol to the faction led by him.
