Ajit Pawar laid to rest with state honours in Baramati; top national leaders pay last respects

The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar were performed with full state honours on Thursday at the Vidya Pratishthan grounds in Baramati, around 100 km from Pune. Pawar, 66, lost his life in a tragic plane crash on Wednesday.

Several senior political leaders from across party lines attended the funeral, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, former Union Minister Sharad Pawar, and Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Nabin.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde were also present.

Family members, including Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, and their sons Parth and Jay, were in attendance. His cousin Supriya Sule, the Lok Sabha MP from Baramati, and NCP working president and former Union Minister Praful Patel were among other senior leaders who paid their respects.

As Pawar’s mortal remains, wrapped in the national flag, were brought from his native village of Katewadi to the funeral venue, thousands of supporters gathered, raising slogans in his memory. Several dignitaries, including Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, former Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, and Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh, laid floral wreaths.
Pawar’s sons performed the final rites by lighting the funeral pyre.

The plane crash also claimed the lives of Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had logged over 15,000 flying hours, co-pilot Captain Shambhavi Pathak with approximately 1,500 hours of experience, personal security officer Vidip Jadhav, and flight attendant Pinky Mali. Hospital authorities said the bodies of the other victims have been handed over to their respective families.

Police have registered an accidental death report in connection with the incident. Preliminary information indicates that the aircraft had aborted an initial landing attempt due to poor visibility. Although it later received clearance to land, air traffic control did not receive a read-back from the aircraft, which subsequently caught fire near the edge of the airstrip.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed that the aircraft’s black box, comprising the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, has been recovered and will be analysed as part of the investigation.​