Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar died in a tragic plane crash this morning while flying from Mumbai to Baramati. Four others on board, including the pilots and Pawar’s security personnel, also lost their lives in the accident. The small aircraft took off from Mumbai at around 8 am and crashed near Baramati airport during a landing attempt roughly 45 minutes later, according to initial reports. Ajit Pawar was scheduled to attend four important public meetings in Baramati ahead of the upcoming local body polls. Visuals from the crash site showed thick fire and smoke, with the aircraft reduced to mangled debris. Ambulances and emergency teams rushed to the spot, but there were no survivors. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that all five passengers on board died in the crash.
An eyewitness present near the site described the terrifying sequence of events: “I saw it with my eyes. This is really painful. When the aircraft descended, it seemed it would crash, and it did crash. It then exploded. There was a massive explosion. After that, we rushed here and saw that the aircraft was on fire. There were 4–5 explosions in the aircraft again. More people came here, and they tried to pull the people out of the aircraft. But since this was a huge fire, people could not help. Ajit Pawar was onboard and this is really painful for us. I can’t describe it in words…” The flight was operated by a company called VSR and was a Learjet 45. An aircraft of the same make had crashed in September 2023 in Mumbai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Pawar's untimely death as "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," he said on X.Union Home Minister Amit Shah is learnt to have left for Pune after getting information about the crash.