Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 28 : Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday expressed grief at the demise of co-Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died after the charter plane carrying him crashed in Baramati.
He further said that an investigation into the crash will be conducted. "We will conduct a probe into this so that such incidents don't happen again in the future."
Referring to the deceased NCP leader as "Ajit da", Shinde recalled that it is a matter of deep sadness and a "deep loss for Maharashtra."
"He and I were working as a team for the progress of Maharashtra and now with his demise a part of the team is no more and also my elder brother is gone," Shinde told reporters here.
"We worked as a team alongside in the cabinet itself, as a team we had started the Ladki Behen Yojana, and Ajit dada played an important role in it.." Shinde said
The Shiv Sena leader said, "I pray that his family get the courage to tide over this moment of grief."
"Ajit Pawar's demise is a great loss to the state, a black day for the state. This incident is a cause of great pain for everyone Our sahyogyi Ajit Pawar Dadaji died in a plane accident," he said.
"He was a clear communicator, articulate and hardworking. He was straightforward and committed leader. Let me see, let me think... these words did not exist in his dictionary. He did not wait for anything, whatever he wanted to do he did it immediately and did not hesitate to say no to projects and schemes. Although he appeared to be a stern person, he was a man of good heart. I have personally experienced it" Shinde said.
The Shiv Sena leader said that "Ajit Pawar was a man who valued time and there were instances where he gave appointments to people as early as 6 am . He was a studious, courageous and disciplined leader."
Ajit Pawar was also Maharashtra's Finance and Planning Minister and had in the past presented the Maharashtra budget.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said, "... He was a great leader of Maharashtra. He had joined Mahayuti for the development of the state. He did remarkable work for Maharashtra and achieved great success in the Maharashtra local body elections. His sudden death in a plane crash is a great loss for Maharashtra..."
The small charter aircraft, with Ajit Pawar on board, took off from Mumbai around 8 am and crashed near Baramati airport during a landing attempt 45 minutes later.
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.
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