Supriya Sule Devastated After Ajit Pawar’s Tragic Demise In Plane Crash As Family Leaves for Baramati

Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) leader Supriya Sule  expressed shock and grief at the untimely demise of her cousin, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash in Baramati on Wednesday.Sule took to WhatsApp and put up a status using a single word: “Devastated," marking the first reaction from the grief-stricken family following the incident.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and five other persons were killed after an aircraft carrying them crashed in Pune district on Wednesday morning. The incident occurred when a Learjet 45 aircraft (registration VT-SSK), operated by VSR, was landing in Pune's Baramati area, according to the officials.There were five passengers, Ajit Pawar onboard along with two more personnel (one PSO and one attendant) and two crew members (pilot in-command and the first officer), on board the Learjet 45 aircraft when the accident happened.

For decades, the Pawar family has been at the centre of Maharashtra's cooperative movement, rural politics and shifting power equations in Mumbai and Delhi. The family, which remained united at its core, saw a public falling in 2023, when Ajit Pawar led a major split in the NCP, breaking away from uncle and patriarch Sharad Pawar's faction to join the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. Following the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "There is an atmosphere of sadness in the state. Losing a leader like him is an unprecedented loss. In personal life, he was a good friend. We faced many challenges together. We have declared a three-day mourning in the state."

Following the incident, condolences poured in from across the political spectrum. President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed condolences. From the Opposition, Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi joined others in extending their condolences, while leaders across states, including Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, also expressed grief over the loss.