Ajit Pawar dies in Learjet 45 crash in Baramati, last rites to be performed today

PUne/ young new delhi: Maharashtra surrogate chief government minister Ajit Pawar and tetrad others were killed in a plane crash in Maharashtra’s Baramati town on Wednesday morning, ending an era in state politics and raising serious questions about the flight operator and the state of the airstrip.Ajit Pawar, 66, was in a mid-size business jet that took off at 8.10am from Mumbai for his home bastion of Baramati to address rallies for upcoming rural body polls. Thirteen minutes later, the Learjet 45 aircraft began its descent but aborted the first landing after the pilot couldn’t see the runway.ALSO READ | What Ajit Pawar’s sudden death means for Maharashtra politics After circling back, pilots confirmed a second landing attempt at 8.43am but a minute later, the air traffic control saw flames near the runway as the aircraft veered off course and crashed.In all, it was in the air for 33 minutes. Ajit Pawar’s remains were identified by his wristwatch, said local residents.“The aircraft was cleared to land on runway 11 at 0843 IST, however, they did not give a readback of the landing clearance. Next, the ATC saw the flames around the threshold of runway 11 at 0844 IST. The emergency services then rushed to the crash site. The wreckage of the aircraft is located on the left side of the runway abeam threshold R/W 11,” the civil aviation ministry said in a statement.Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu initially suggested that the crash occurred during poor visibility. The ministry statement said conditions were calm and visibility at 3,000 metres. “We are trying to do, according to the protocol, what needs to be done to investigate the accident. The AAIB team is there... We should base our facts and our assessments on what they say,” he said.Questions swirled about the company that operated the aircraft, Delhi-based VSR Ventures Pvt. Ltd, whose plane was involved in an earlier crash in 2023 in Mumbai – an incident on which the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is yet to file a final report.DGCA is likely to issue a special audit of these non-scheduled operators (NSOPs) - smaller firms that run charter services“What I got to know from the preliminary information that I received is that the first time the pilot wanted to land at Baramati, there was a visibility problem in the sense he was not able to sight the runway. So, once that happened, he communicated to the ATC and the ATC suggested a go-around. So, he hovered around the runway and then when he came back to land again,” said Naidu.Baramati is categorised as an “uncontrolled” airport that lacked basic navigation aids, a fire tender or independent meteorological data. The ATC is jointly managed by pilot cadets from Baramati’s two private aviation academies, Redbird Aviation and Carver Aviation. After the crash, the air force took control of the ATC.ALSO READ | Sharad Pawar’s politics without Ajit PawarOne resident near Baramati airport said the aircraft seemed to lose balance and tilt before crashing. This appeared to be borne out by CCTV footage taken from across the road leading to the airport. “The plane was moving in circles and then suddenly came down with a loud sound,” a woman from the area said, adding that the explosion was heard inside nearby houses.The plane crashed significantly short of the runway threshold but well within the airstrip perimeter, said a senior DGCA official familiar with the details of the early assessments of the crash. “There were no flames prior to touchdown,” said the person.“The last words heard from the crew were ‘oh s****’...,” the person added.Other than Ajit Pawar, captain Sumit Kapoor, first officer Shambavi Pathak, flight attendant Pinky Mali and Pawar’s personal security officer Vidhit Jadhav also died in the crash. “The death is a big shock for Maharashtra, which has lost a hardworking and efficient leader, and this loss is irreparable. Not all things are in our hands….There is no politics in it. It was an accident. I request not to bring politics into it,” an emotional Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s uncle said. Earlier in the day, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Union minister Ramdas Athawale had demanded a probe into the crash.Ajit Pawar’s last rites will be performed with full state honours at Vidya Pratishthan in Baramati at 11am on Thursday.“Ajit Pawar ji was a people’s leader who had a strong bond with the people and a deep connection with the grassroots. He was widely respected as a hardworking personality who always remained at the forefront in the service of the people of Maharashtra. He had profound knowledge of administrative matters,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.Aviation minister Naidu said that teams from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and AAIB rushed to Baramati to examine technical aspects, weather conditions and operational factors linked to the crash.Born on July 22, 1959 to Asha and Anantrao Pawar, Ajit Pawar followed the footsteps of his uncle Sharad Pawar into politics in 1982 when he was elected to the board of a sugar factory.In 1991, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Baramati and later vacated the seat for his uncle who then became defence minister in P V Narasimha Rao’s government. He then served as Baramati MLA for eight terms from 1991.The intrepid politician, who was also embroiled in a string of corruption allegations, became the state’s deputy chief minister for a record six times under chief ministers Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde. He is survived by his wife, Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar, and two sons, Jay and Parth Pawar.“I’m numb. I do not have any words to express these devastating emotions. I have lost my brave friend with a huge heart. This is a tragic and personal loss for me. And it is irreparable loss! I pay my deep, humble, heartfelt respects to dear Dada,” Fadnavis said on X. The chief minister, governor Acharya Devvrat and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde rushed to Baramati to meet the Pawar family.His demise will trigger a churn in Maharashtra, which is ruled by a three-party Mahayuti coalition of which he was an important member. It will also put an existential question before the Nationalist Congress Party, which performed well in the 2024 assembly polls but poorly in the Lok Sabha and local body polls and was involved in merger talks with the faction led by Sharad Pawar.“It is a very painful incident... The aircraft accident will be probed. This loss is not just of the Pawar family but of the entire state. I am feeling as if I have lost my elder brother,” deputy CM Eknath Shinde said.Known to his followers as Dada, Ajit Pawar spent a large chunk of his career tending to Maharashtra while his uncle Sharad Pawar and cousin Supriya Sule strode the corridors of power in Delhi. He built a large and potent base for himself in western Maharashtra and was known in the state for his administrative acumen, especially in matters of finance – he presented the state budget a record 13 times.He often landed in controversy, especially due to allegations of the ₹70,000 crore irrigation scam or the recent controversy over his son Parth’s land deal in Pune. In 2013, Ajit Pawar sparked a row with comments ridiculing the acute water and power shortage in parts of the state when he mocked a farmer from a drought-hit area.“If there is no water in the dam, how can we release it? Should we urinate into it? If there is no water to drink, even urination is not possible,” he had said.But he was also known as the ultimate political survivor, a credential he burnished with his deep grassroots connect and keen electoral instincts. He recovered from a bungled early morning attempt to form the government with the BJP in 2019, and served as deputy CM with the Maha Vikas Aghadi. He later stepped out of his uncle’s shadow in 2023 when he broke the NCP and joined hands with the Mahayuti – only to later mend fences within the family.“I have seen him here since my childhood,” said Tukaram Shinde, an elderly farmer in Baramati. “For us, Ajit Pawar was Baramati.”