Ajit Pawar's death politically poignant as it came just as factions of NCP, his and the one led by family head Sharad Pawar, were walking towards reconciliation
The political landscape of Maharashtra was irrevocably altered at 8:45 am on Wednesday, January 28, when a chartered Learjet 45 private jet carrying deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others crashed during a landing attempt at the airport in his family hometown Baramati.
The combined strength of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) had limited sway in recent municipal polls in Maharahstra. (HT File Photo)
The tragedy plunges one of India’s most powerful political dynasties into mourning, and put a question mark on the future of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that he led.
The death of the leader popularly known as ‘Dada’ ('brother') is politically poignant also because it occurred just as the two factions of the NCP — one led by Ajit and the other by his uncle and family patriarch Sharad Pawar with his daughter Supriya Sule — appeared to be walking towards a reconciliation, even a merger.
The final flight, a family in shock
The ill-fated aircraft, operated by VSR, took off from Mumbai at 8:10 am, and disappeared from radar around 8:45, while attempting a second landing in Baramati, as per flight tracking data. Superintendent of Police Sandip Singh Gill confirmed that a fire broke out following the impact.