Fresh details have surfaced about the final minutes before the plane crash in Baramati that killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others.
Call records released by the NCP show that Pawar was speaking to a party worker just nine minutes before the aircraft went down during landing on January 28.
The brief call, routine in nature, has since taken on deep emotional weight. When its audio was played at the party office in Baramati, several workers broke down. For many, it was the last time they heard his voice.
What happened during the final call
The last conversation was with Shreejit Pawar, an NCP worker from Katewadi.
Shreejit said he had messaged Ajit Pawar at 8.19 am about a local issue. There was no immediate response, likely because the aircraft was airborne.
As the plane descended and network connectivity returned, Pawar called him back at 8.37 am.
The call lasted about a minute. Shreejit raised a local concern. Pawar listened and responded in his familiar, brisk manner.
“I will call you back later,” he said, before ending the call to prepare for landing.
At 8.46 am, the aircraft crashed while attempting to land at Baramati.
Recalling the moment, Shreejit said, “I wasn’t so important that Dada had to call me right during landing, but it was his nature to reply to every message.”
During the conversation, Pawar spoke about political inclusion and representation.
“Child, we take all castes and religions along with us. We will work to give justice to everyone. I have given the Zilla Parishad candidature to the Mali community from the Supe constituency because it was an OBC reserved seat. We have done what other parties failed to do.”
Shreejit responded, “Fine, Dada. Whatever decision you feel is right is final. I will hang up now.”
That was the end of the call.
Pawar was scheduled to address four election meetings in Baramati that day. Even moments before landing, he remained engaged with party workers and local issues.
According to Shreejit, the audio clip was played publicly because colleagues wanted to hear his voice one last time.
As the state mourns, attention has now shifted to the aircraft’s black box and the investigation into a possible technical failure.