Frank Rondel
Three days of mourning have been declared in the Indian state of Maharashtra following the death of the state’s deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar, who perished when his aircraft caught fire while attempting to land on Wednesday, reports customreceipt.com via The Guardian. Two crew members and two of Pawar’s staff were also on board, and authorities confirmed that there were no survivors.
The crash occurred as Pawar was returning to campaign in his home constituency of Baramati. The plane reportedly made a failed landing attempt before catching fire on impact. Rescue operations were immediately launched, but all on board were declared dead.
On Thursday, thousands of supporters and local residents gathered in Baramati to attend Pawar’s funeral, which was conducted with full state honors. Home Minister Amit Shah was scheduled to participate in the ceremony. Pawar’s political career spanned several decades, during which he served as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister six times under various coalition governments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences, calling Pawar a “leader of the people” who was “widely respected for his dedication to serving the citizens of Maharashtra.”
Born into a prominent political family, Ajit Pawar joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 1980, a party founded by his uncle, Sharad Pawar. Over the years, he was widely regarded as the likely successor to his uncle’s leadership of the NCP, although differences in their political approaches occasionally caused friction.
In 2019, after an unsuccessful internal challenge, Pawar played a key role in reshaping Maharashtra’s political landscape in 2023 by forming a faction within the NCP that eventually aligned with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This maneuver split the NCP into two rival groups, with Pawar’s faction retaining the party name, symbol, and key leaders, significantly weakening Sharad Pawar’s influence. Following the BJP-led alliance’s victory in the 2024 state elections, Ajit Pawar was reinstated as deputy chief minister.
Prior to his death, discussions were underway regarding the potential reunification of the two NCP factions. Pawar’s sudden passing raises pressing questions about his political successor and the future of the party’s divided factions.
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