Amit Shah Says Ajit Pawar’s Death Is A ‘Personal Loss’, Entire NDA Stands With Family

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Tuesday expressed profound grief over the demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, saying his death was a personal loss and that the entire NDA stood with the bereaved family.

In a post on X, Shah said Pawar had dedicated himself to the welfare of every section of society in Maharashtra for over three and a half decades.

“Today, the news of the loss of Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and our senior NDA colleague Ajit Pawar ji in a tragic accident has left my heart deeply distressed… His demise is a personal loss not only for the NDA family but also for me,” Shah said, extending his deepest condolences to the Pawar family and adding, “In this hour of grief, the entire

NDA stands firmly with the bereaved Pawar family. May God grant the departed soul a place at His divine feet. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.”

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash on Wednesday morning.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), all five people on board the chartered aircraft flying from Mumbai to Baramati were killed after it crash-landed at around 8.45 am. The crash occurred near the runway threshold at Baramati. Pawar was travelling with two personnel — a personal security officer and an attendant — along with two crew members. Further details on the circumstances of the crash are awaited.

Pawar was on his way to Baramati to attend a public rally ahead of the Zilla Parishad elections. Earlier on Tuesday, he was in Mumbai, where he attended a meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. State minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and other senior officials were also present at the meeting.

Ajit Pawar was Maharashtra’s longest-serving deputy chief minister, holding the post non-consecutively for six terms across different governments. He served as deputy chief minister under the administrations of Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.

He is survived by his wife, Sunetra Pawar and their two sons, Jay and Parth Pawar.

Pawar began his political career in 1982 after being elected to the board of a cooperative sugar factory. In 1991, he was elected chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank.