Ajit Pawar Cremated with Full State Honours in Baramati
Three-day state mourning announced as Maharashtra bids farewell to late Deputy CM after tragic plane crash
- Ajit Pawar’s last rites held in Baramati amid massive public turnout
- Funeral procession curtailed due to huge crowds and body condition
- Leaders across parties, including Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule, present
- Black box recovered; DGCA probing crash causes
GG News Bureau
Baramati, 29th Jan: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a tragic plane crash on Wednesday morning, was cremated with full state honours in Baramati, his political bastion and the birthplace of his long public career. The Maharashtra government has announced three days of state mourning following his death.
Thousands of supporters and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) workers gathered for the funeral procession, which began around 9 am. Chants of “Ajit Pawar amar rahe” echoed through Baramati as crowds swelled rapidly. However, authorities decided to take the body directly to the cremation site due to the massive turnout and concerns over crowd management.
Originally, the procession was scheduled to pass through five locations before reaching Vidya Pratishthan ground. The plan was curtailed, and the last rites were conducted earlier than scheduled due to the deteriorating condition of the body and surging crowds.
Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, sons Parth and Jay Pawar, and uncle Sharad Pawar were present at the cremation. Despite political differences following Ajit Pawar’s 2023 split from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP to join the BJP alliance, the family stood together during the final rites.
Several senior leaders across party lines, including Supriya Sule, Uddhav Thackeray, and other prominent political figures, attended the funeral. Actor Riteish Deshmukh and other public personalities were also present to pay their respects.
Ajit Pawar, 66, and four others, including both pilots, were killed when his chartered Learjet 45 aircraft crashed during a second attempt to land at Baramati airfield. The aircraft, operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures, went down at around 8:46 am after reportedly missing the runway on the first approach.
Investigators have recovered the aircraft’s black box, which contains crucial flight data and cockpit voice recordings. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is leading the probe into the crash. Officials have indicated that the pilots did not send a mandatory landing clearance readback, and the aircraft had narrowly missed a deadline to retrofit a satellite-based navigation system that could have aided landing in poor visibility.
Ajit Pawar’s sudden death has shocked Maharashtra’s political landscape and created uncertainty over the future leadership of his NCP faction. It has also left several key development initiatives for Baramati and Maharashtra incomplete, including proposed welfare enhancements and major infrastructure projects.
The passing of the veteran leader, widely known as “Dada” in state politics, marks the end of a powerful political chapter in Maharashtra.
