Who was Ajit Pawar, the Indian politician killed in airplane crash? | Politics Information

A non-public airplane carrying Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of India’s Maharashtra state, crashed on Wednesday, killing him and 4 different folks on board, authorities stated.

The plane was en path to Baramati, Pawar’s house metropolis, from India’s monetary capital of Mumbai when it crash-landed in an open discipline and burst into flames some 254km (159 miles) from the state capital.

The rationale behind the crash was not instantly recognized, and an investigation is underneath manner.

Who was Ajit Pawar?

Pawar, 66, was a key political determine and served because the second-highest elected official in Maharashtra, India’s wealthiest state.

He was an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP) ‌within the state authorities, main a faction ⁠that cut up in 2023 from the opposition Nationalist Congress Occasion (NCP).

He wielded appreciable affect within the state’s sugar belt and was recognized for his capability to mobilise rural voters.

Born on July 22, 1959, Pawar began his political profession with the Indian Nationwide Congress, generally often known as the Congress celebration, within the late Eighties, influenced by his uncle Sharad Pawar, in keeping with a report in India’s The Hindu newspaper.

In 1991, he was first elected as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Meeting from the Baramati constituency, which he represented for a report eight phrases.

In 1999, when his highly effective uncle shaped the NCP, Pawar joined it and served a number of phrases as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister in coalitions led by the NCP over the previous 20 years.

In 2019, Pawar briefly left the NCP to affix the BJP’s cupboard in Maharashtra as a deputy chief minister. He later returned to the celebration and, in 2023, orchestrated a cut up inside the NCP by aligning with the BJP-led coalition.

In February 2024, the Election Fee of India acknowledged Ajit Pawar’s faction because the official NCP. The identical 12 months, he was sworn in as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister for a sixth time.

What’s Pawar’s legacy?

Pawar’s contribution to the event of his area was vital, stated a report in The Indian Categorical newspaper, notably in Maharashtra’s Pimpri-Chinchwad space, the place he pushed “large-scale infrastructure tasks, together with wider roads and improved civic amenities”.

Baramati particularly underwent a makeover, with a number of infrastructure tasks attributed to him, as he supervised the event of his bastion together with his uncle, Sharad Pawar.

Nonetheless, Pawar was additionally accused of corruption in two outstanding circumstances.

In an alleged Maharashtra irrigation rip-off, he was accused of involvement in irregularities in awarding contracts price tens of millions of {dollars} for civic tasks between 1999 and 2009.

Final 12 months, he was named in a land rip-off in Maharashtra’s Pune metropolis, with an organization owned by his son accused of shopping for reserved authorities land under the market worth. Upon uproar, the deal was scrapped.

Authorities inquiries into each the alleged scams stay inconclusive.

How did Pawar die?

Pawar’s plane, travelling from Mumbai, tried to make an emergency touchdown within the household stronghold of Baramati, the place he was set to canvass ‍within the native elections.

The VSR Ventures-operated Learjet 45 plane crashed in an open discipline at about 8:30am (03:00 GMT) whereas touchdown at Baramati airport, native media reported.

The constitution plane went down in flames, stated the Directorate Basic of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s aviation regulator.

Movies from the crash website confirmed smoke billowing from among the burning wreckage of the airplane, scattered throughout the open discipline.

“At first it was ‌on fireplace, after that there have been 4 or 5 extra explosions,” an unidentified witness informed India’s ANI information company, after seeing the airplane crash and explode. However the flames have been ‌too fierce to tug anybody out, he added.

Pawar was travelling together with his private safety officer, an assistant, and two crew members on the time of the crash, the DGCA stated.

VK ⁠Singh, the director of VSR Ventures, informed broadcaster India At this time the reason for the crash was not clear.

“The plane is 100% secure,” he stated. “The crew was pretty skilled.”

What have been the reactions?

PM Modi described Pawar as a “chief of the folks” in a publish he shared on X. He stated Pawar’s “premature demise” was “stunning and saddening”.

“Shri Ajit Pawar Ji was a pacesetter of the folks … [with] a powerful grassroots degree join,” Modi stated, including that he was a “extensively revered” and “hardworking” political stalwart.

“His understanding of administrative issues and keenness for empowering the poor and downtrodden have been additionally noteworthy.”

Rahul Gandhi of the Congress celebration additionally posted his condolences on X, calling Pawar’s loss of life “extraordinarily painful”.

“I’m with the folks of Maharashtra on this hour of grief,” he wrote.

Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated he had “no phrases to specific my feelings”.

“I’ve misplaced my robust and beneficiant buddy,” he posted on social media.