Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s last rites will likely be performed tomorrow, Thursday, at around 11 A.M. at Vidya Pratishthan ground in Baramati. Ajit 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.
Ajit Pawar died after the aircraft he was travelling on crash-landed in Baramati on Wednesday. Pawar was en routeto Baramati to address a public rally ahead of the Zilla Parishad elections. The aircraft, Learjet 45, on which Pawar was travelling, was scheduled to take off at 7:00 A.M. Instead, it took off at 8:10 A.M., and the Air Traffic Control (ATC) received information about the crash at 9:12 A.M. News agency PTI quoted a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as saying that the aircraft was carrying five persons in total, including Pawar, two accompanying staff members and two crew members. Meanwhile, leaders from across party lines have expressed grief over Ajit Pawar’s sudden demise. Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu has cited preliminary investigation to suggest that low visibility was the cause of the crash.
“We will conduct an investigation in a transparent and accountable manner. Preliminary information indicates that visibility was poor at the site at the time of landing around 8:48 am. Before landing, ATC asked the pilot whether the runway was in sight, and he confirmed it was not. After a go-around, the aircraft returned to land, and the pilot was again asked if the runway was visible for landing. Then, the pilot confirmed visibility of the runway. After ATC cleared landing, it was seen that the accident had occurred”, he said.