Ajit Pawar Funeral: Amit Shah, Fadnavis, Gadkari Attend Last Rites

Maharashtra bid an emotional farewell to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday as his last rites were performed with full state honours in Baramati, even as demands grew for a transparent probe into the plane crash that claimed his life.

Here’s a round-up:

State Honours in Baramati

The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar were conducted with full state honours at the Vidya Pratishthan ground in Baramati on Thursday. His sons performed the final rituals as thousands gathered to pay their last respects.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar were among the prominent leaders present. Actor Riteish Deshmukh and senior Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde, accompanied by his daughter Praniti Shinde, also attended the funeral.

As Pawar’s mortal remains were brought to the ground, supporters raised slogans of “Ajit Dada Amar Rahe,” underscoring the depth of public mourning for the veteran leader.

Family, Colleagues Pay Final Tribute

Ajit Pawar is survived by his wife Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, and his sons Jay and Parth Pawar, all of whom were present during the last rites. Drone visuals from the venue showed a sea of mourners gathered to bid farewell to the longest-serving deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, the last rites of Vidip Dilip Jadhav, Pawar’s personal security officer who was also killed in the crash, were performed by his family in Satara. His young son carried out the final rituals.

Crash Investigation Underway

Ajit Pawar died on Wednesday after a chartered aircraft crash-landed near the runway at Baramati airport, killing all five people on board. He was travelling to attend a public rally for the Zilla Parishad elections.

Officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), forensic teams, the NDRF, and Maharashtra Police reached the crash site to investigate the incident. Pune Rural Police have registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) at the Baramati Taluka Police Station and initiated further inquiry. Investigators have since recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the site.

Sanjay Raut Demands Transparent Probe

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the crash, stating that condolences alone were insufficient.

Raising concerns over a spate of chartered flight accidents across the country, Raut questioned whether technical faults, radar failures, or airport-related issues were responsible. He stressed that the truth must be placed before the public to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

“What will be achieved by merely sending condolences?” Raut asked, demanding accountability and clarity on the cause of the crash.

A Political Legacy Spanning Decades

Born on July 22, 1959, in Deolali Pravara of Ahmednagar district, Ajit Pawar was widely known as “Ajit Dada” for his grassroots connect and straightforward political style. He played a key role in Maharashtra’s cooperative movement, overseeing milk unions, sugar factories, and financial institutions.

His political career began in earnest in 1991 when he was elected to the Lok Sabha. Over the decades, he served as MLA, minister for key portfolios, and deputy chief minister six times under governments led by Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray, and Eknath Shinde.

Despite political splits and realignments—including the NCP split in 2019 and the Election Commission’s 2024 decision awarding the party name and symbol to his faction—Ajit Pawar remained closely associated with his uncle Sharad Pawar. The two factions even came together during recent municipal elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

(With inputs from ANI)