Baramati stood still on Thursday as Maharashtra bid a tearful farewell to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, whose life was cut short in a tragic plane crash.
The plane carrying five people, including Pawar and two pilots, crashed in Baramati on Wednesday morning. Pawar was scheduled to address four election rallies in the region.
The final rites of the 66-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief were conducted with full state honours at the Vidya Pratishthan ground, turning the normally bustling town in Pune district into a sea of mourners.
From early morning, crowds began assembling as Pawar’s mortal remains, wrapped in the national flag, were brought from his native village of Katewadi to the funeral venue. The air echoed with emotional chants of “Ajit Dada amar rahe,” reflecting the deep bond he shared with the people of the region he represented for decades.
A cross-section of India’s political leadership gathered to pay their last respects. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP president Nitin Nabin and former Union Minister Sharad Pawar were among the prominent leaders present. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stood alongside Pawar’s family, including his wife Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha member, and sons Parth and Jay. His cousin and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, as well as NCP working president Praful Patel, also attended the solemn ceremony.
Several leaders placed floral wreaths on Pawar’s mortal remains, including Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, former Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh. In an intensely emotional moment, Pawar’s sons Parth and Jay performed the final rites, lighting the funeral pyre amid chants and prayers.
Earlier in the day, Pawar’s body was moved from the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Hospital in Baramati, where it had been kept overnight, to Katewadi before the public homage. Thousands lined the roads, many with folded hands and moist eyes, as the cortege passed through familiar landscapes that marked Pawar’s political journey.
The fatal crash occurred near a tabletop airstrip, where the aircraft went down barely 200 metres from its edge. Along with Pawar, four others lost their lives—Captain Sumit Kapoor, an experienced pilot with over 15,000 flying hours; co-pilot Shambhavi Pathak, who had logged around 1,500 hours; personal security officer Vidip Jadhav; and flight attendant Pinky Mali. Hospital authorities said their bodies have been handed over to their respective families.
Police have registered an accidental death report in connection with the incident. A government note released on Wednesday outlined that the aircraft had initially gone around due to poor visibility. After being cleared to land, it failed to provide a read-back to air traffic control and crashed moments later, erupting into flames near the runway.
The Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed on Thursday that the aircraft’s black box—comprising the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder—has been recovered, a key step in determining the exact cause of the tragedy that has left Maharashtra in mourning.
Also Read: Baramati Plane Crash Kills Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra Reels In Shock https://www.vibesofindia.com/baramati-plane-crash-kills-ajit-pawar-maharashtra-reels-in-shock/
