Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash in Baramati. BJP's Ravi Kishan and Shiv Sena's Anand Dubey mourned his death. Kishan called the demise an 'irreparable loss' and remembered Pawar as the 'king of Baramati'.
BJP's Lok Sabha MP Ravi Kishan on Wednesday expressed grief over the demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, terming his death as an "irreparable loss" to both the state and the country.
Recalling his personal association with Pawar, Kishan said the NCP leader was popularly known as "Baramati ka raja" (The king of Baramati). "There could not be a bigger loss for Maharashtra politics and for the country. I knew him personally, and he was known as 'Baramati ka raja'," Ravi Kishan told reporters.
Pawar's Political Stronghold in Baramati
He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1991 from the Baramati Parliamentary constituency but vacated his seat for his uncle Sharad Pawar. Later on, Later, he was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly seven times from the Baramati Assembly constituency, the sugar-rich area of western Maharashtra. He first won in a 1991 by-election and subsequently in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014. He wone the Baramati Assembly seat for a record eighth time in the 2024 state polls.
Tributes Pour In From Across Party Lines
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey also mourned Pawar's death, saying the news of his passing in a plane crash had left everyone in shock and grief. He described Pawar as a leader respected across party lines. "We all heard of his death in a plane crash this morning and we are in grief. He was a leader loved by all, irrespective of party politics. Whether Mahavikas Aghadi or Mahayuti, he carried out his work with complete integrity. He was one of the few leaders who worked round the clock. We cannot imagine that he is no longer with us," Anand Dubey told ANI.
The Fatal Plane Crash
Ajit Pawar died in the plane crash on Wednesday morning in Maharashtra's Baramati.
According to DGCA, five people, including the crew, on board the chartered plane flying from Mumbai, Maharashtra, to Baramati died after a crash-landing at 8.45 am this morning. The crash landing of the Mumbai-Baramati charter plane occurred at the runway threshold in Baramati.
Pawar was onboard along with 2 more personnel (1 PSO and 1 attendant) and 2 crew members. Further details about the crash are awaited.
Pawar was headed to Baramati to attend a public rally for the Zilla Parishad Elections.
Pawar was in Mumbai on Tuesday, where he attended a meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure, chaired by CM Devendra Fadnavis. Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and other officials were also present.
A Record-Breaking Tenure
Ajit Pawar was the longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra non-consecutively. He served in the position for six terms within various governments. He had worked as deputy chief minister in the cabinets of Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.
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