Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar killed in Baramati plane crash

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar died on January 28 morning after the chartered aircraft carrying him crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Baramati airport. Two pilots and two members of Pawar’s security detail were also killed in the accident.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that all five people on board the Mumbai–Baramati charter flight died in the crash. Preliminary assessments suggest poor visibility may have contributed to the accident. The pilots were identified as Sumit Kapoor and Sambhavi Pathak.

Pawar was travelling to Baramati to address four public meetings ahead of the Zilla Parishad elections when the Bombardier Learjet 45, chartered from Mumbai and operated by Delhi-based VSR, went down at around 8.40 am.

Eyewitnesses said the jet was attempting to land at the threshold of runway 11 when it crashed and immediately burst into flames. Visuals from the site showed the aircraft completely destroyed, reduced to twisted wreckage, with debris scattered across the runway and thick smoke rising from the crash zone.

The rise of Ajit ‘Dada’

Born on July 22, 1959, in Deolali Pravara in Ahmednagar district, Ajit Pawar belonged to one of Maharashtra’s most influential political families. The son of Anantrao Pawar, elder brother of Sharad Pawar, he rose through the state’s powerful cooperative sector, earning the moniker ‘Dada’ for his commanding presence and political style.

Pawar entered public life early, becoming a member of a cooperative sugar factory board at just 23. He won the Baramati Lok Sabha seat in 1991 before shifting his focus to state politics, going on to serve eight terms as MLA from Baramati, the Pawar family stronghold.

After Sharad Pawar split from the Congress to form the NCP in 1999, Ajit emerged as one of the party’s most formidable leaders. At 40, he became the youngest cabinet minister in the Vilasrao Deshmukh-led government, holding key portfolios including irrigation, finance, rural development, and energy.

A career defined by power and realignments

Known for his political agility, Pawar was rarely out of power. His dramatic realignments reshaped Maharashtra politics, most notably in 2019, when he briefly joined hands with the BJP to form a government with Devendra Fadnavis, and again in 2023, when his rebellion split the NCP and aligned his faction with the BJP–Shiv Sena alliance.

Following the Mahayuti’s victory in the 2024 assembly elections, Pawar continued as deputy chief minister, cementing his status as one of the state’s most influential leaders.

He is survived by his wife, Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, and their two sons. On January 28, Maharashtra lost not just a senior political figure, but a leader long seen as a decisive power centre and a familiar ‘dada’ to farmers and workers across the state.