The Maharashtra government has declared a three-day state mourning till January 30, with the national flag flying at half-mast for three days.
Photo: IANS
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash on Wednesday. The Bombardier Aerospace-built Learjet 45 (VT-SSK) carrying Pawar crashed at the Baramati airport while landing, according to the chief minister’s office.
The 66-year old NCP leader is survived by his wife Sunetra Pawar, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, besides his two sons, Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar, as well as his (Ajit Pawar’s) mother Ashatai Pawar who lives in Baramati.
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The Maharashtra government has declared a three-day state mourning till January 30, with the national flag flying at half-mast for three days.
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The late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s body was kept at the Vidya Pratishthan Vidyanagari Chowk ground from 4 pm on Wednesday until late at night to enable citizens of Baramati in Pune district to pay their last respects.
Ajit Pawar’s funeral procession will leave from Gadima Hall at 9 am on Thursday and pass through Gadima Chowk, Vidyanagari Chowk, Vidya Pratishthan road and Marathi School gate, after which his last rites will be performed at the Vidya Pratishthan ground at 11 am, with full state honours, sources said.
Condoling the demise of Ajit Pawar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his untimely demise is very shocking and saddening ”Shri Ajit Pawar Ji was a leader of the people, having a strong grassroots level connect. He was widely respected as a hardworking personality at the forefront of serving the people of Maharashtra. His understanding of administrative matters and passion for empowering the poor and downtrodden were also noteworthy. His untimely demise is very shocking and saddening. Condolences to his family and countless admirers. Om Shanti.”
Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to attend Pawar’s funeral. Leaders cutting across the political spectrum will be present, according to an NCP spokesperson. Leaders from political parties have sent their condolences and expressed their shock and grief.
Prime Minister Modi also called up NCP founder Sharad Pawar in the afternoon, sources said.Earlier today, the Prime Minister and Home Minister Shah called up Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for updates about the crash.
Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Governor Acharya Devvrat visited the wife of the departed leader to offer their condolences.
The DGCA stated that the chartered aircraft went off the runway while attempting to land at Baramati airport and then burst into flames, killing Ajit Pawar, besides a member of his security staff, a crew member as well as two pilots on board. The air crash killed all occupants including Ajit Pawar, his bodyguard Vindip Jadhav, cabin crew member Pinky Mali, Captain Sumit Kapoor and Captain Shambhavi Pathak.
According to sources, Kolhapur Range IG Sunil Phulari reached the spot with the police, a rescue team with ambulances and emergency teams after which all the bodies were rushed to the Punyashlok Ahilyabai Holkar Medical College Hospital at Baramati, where the police identified Ajit Pawar’s badly burnt body from the wrist watch he wore. A large crowd of shocked Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) gathered outside the hospital and many were seen to be weeping and chanting “Dada Dada”, since Ajit Pawar was affectionately called “Dada”.
Army personnel were also present on the hospital premises to assist in crowd control as the crowd even as police officials had to appeal to those gathered to vacate the premises.
According to police sources, the pilot flying Ajit Pawar’s chartered aircraft didn’t send any distress signal before it crashed, though the captain spoke to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) telling them that the runway is visible.
However, according to flight tracking data released by flight tracking website Flightradar24, the Learjet which crashed was in its second attempt to land at Baramati airport when the tragedy occurred. It is also learnt that the ill-fated aircraft stopped sending out automatic ADS-B signals, some 20 km from the Baramati airport.
The crash site at the Baramati airport has already been cordoned off, the police stated. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will investigate the crash.
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