New Delhi, Jan 28 Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu expressed her condolences following the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who tragically died in a plane crash on Wednesday. The former world champion said she now regrets not visiting Baramati, despite the NCP chief invitations on multiple ocassions.
Amid ongoing elections to the Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis, Dy CM Ajit Pawar was travelling from Mumbai to Baramati to attend a public meeting. The incident occurred around 9 a.m., an hour after the plane took off from Mumbai, claiming the lives of the NCP chief and five others.
"Rest in peace, Ajit Dada. I had the privilege of meeting you many times, and every time I was struck by your discipline, your work ethic, and the love you had for your people.
"You often told me, “Come to my Baramati.” I kept thinking there would be time. I never imagined I’d regret not coming like this," Sindhu wrote in an X post.
"My deepest condolences to the families of Captain Shambhavi Pathak, Captain Sumit Kapoor, Pinky Mali, and PSO Videep Jadhav. So many lives lost. So many families shattered.
"May God give everyone strength to get through this," she further wrote.
Pawar represented the Baramati Assembly constituency seven consecutive times since 1991, winning by massive margins every time. His power base was rooted in Maharashtra’s cooperative sector. He was elected president of the Maharashtra Olympic Committee by the MOA executive committee for the 2025-29 term.
He also served as the chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank (PDC) for 16 years and has immense influence over sugar cooperatives and milk unions. He had held almost every major ministerial portfolio in Maharashtra, including Water Resources, Power, and Rural Development, under various Chief Ministers (Vilasrao Deshmukh, Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan, and Uddhav Thackeray).
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