Mumbai: The untimely death of Maharashtra Deputy Ajit Pawar has shocked the state of Maharashtra. Pawar and four others were killed after a small aircraft carrying them crashed while attempting to land
in Baramati this morning. The crash occurred as the aircraft was landing in the Baramati area of Pune district.
What We Know So Far
3-day state mourning declared
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis announced a state holiday and three days of mourning following the demise of Ajit Pawar. "Today we have declared a state holiday, and three days of state mourning have also been announced."
Funeral To Be held Today
The funeral is scheduled for this evening. The Mahayuti government is set to honour the late NCP leader with a state funeral.
Family members leave for Baramati
Ajit Pawar's uncle and NCP founder, Sharad Pawar, along with his wife Pratibha, have left for Baramati from Mumbai. Ajit Pawar's cousin and NCP-SP MP, Supriya Sule, along with his wife Sunetra, have left from Delhi. They were in the national capital to attend the Budget session of the Parliament.
Baramati Bandh
The Baramati Region has come to a standstill as the city grieves his loss and a bandh is being observed, with all shops and markets shut. Commercial activities remain closed across the town. Shopkeepers and traders have voluntarily kept their shutters down as a mark of respect for Pawar, who had a political stronghold in the city.
Huge crowd gathered outside hospital
A huge crowd of NCP workers and Dada's supporters gathered outside the Punyashlok Ahilyabai Holkar Government Medical College. Supporters are seen raising slogans and expressing grief, as emotions continue to run high.
Details of all the deceassed
Five people were on board the aircraft that crashed before landing after taking off from Mumbai at 8:10 am and scheduled to land at 8:50 am. Those on board included Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his PSO Vidip Jadhav, pilots Sumit Kapur and Sambhavi Pathak, and flight assistant Pinki Mali.
What caused the crash?
Several media reports have stated that the plane crash could have caused due to dense fog. However, Aviation expert and former Air India pilot Minoo Wadia has ruled out and said that, though the visibility was not very good, but it probably wasn’t the reason the aircraft crashed. "Yes, visibility does have an effect, but first of all, there was no fog at Baramati this morning, and it was not very early in the morning. It was around nine o'clock, or a quarter to nine. From the pictures, we can see that the visibility was not very good, but it probably wasn’t the reason this aircraft crashed," he said as quoted by IANS
Details of the Aircraft Details
The chartered aircraft, registered as VT-SSK and operated by VSR. According to news reports citing air traffic control (ATC) data, the jet attempted an emergency landing near the threshold of Runway 11 at approximately 8.48 am but lost control during the manoeuvre. The aircraft reportedly collided with a rock and immediately caught fire, according to a News18 report.
Ajit Pawar,66, was the nephew of veteran politician and NCP founder Sharad Pawar, and the cousin of Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule. 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. He is survived by his wife, Sunetra Pawar and two sons, Jay and Parth Pawar.
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