Maharashtra bids a tearful adieu to Ajit Pawar

Chants of “Ajit Dada Amar Rahe” (Ajit Dada is immortal) rent the air on Thursday as Maharashtra bid a final and tearful farewell to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The 66-year-old NCP chief, popularly known as ‘Dada’ (elder brother) in Baramati, was cremated with full State honours at the Vidya Pratishthan college ground here, a day after he, along with four others, died when the chartered plane carrying them crashed on Wednesday. The college has been founded by the Pawar family.

As thousands gathered to pay their last respects, Pawar’s sons, Parth and Jay, lit the funeral pyre in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president Nitin Nabin, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Sharad Pawar, the patriarch and uncle of the departed deputy chief minister, sat quietly watching a legacy he helped build become a memory.

Thousands of mourners gathered for Ajit Pawar’s last rites chanted “Ajit Dada amar rahe”, when his mortal remains, draped in the national flag, were brought from his village, Katewadi, to the Vidya Pratishthan ground, located 100 km from Pune.

Ajit Pawar’s cousin, Supriya Sule, the NCP (SP) Lok Sabha member from Baramati, stood with his wife, Sunetra Pawar, who is a Rajya Sabha member, to console her as she paid tributes to her late husband.

NCP working president and former Union minister Praful Patel was also present.

Announcements over loudspeakers urged people to maintain silence and discipline, and to pay their respects to the late leader from their seats, calling it the greatest tribute to Ajit Pawar, known for his strict sense of discipline.

Shah, Gadkari, Nabin, Fadnavis, Union minister Ramdas Athawale, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, State assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde, and Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh were among the leaders who placed floral wreaths on Pawar’s mortal remains.

Ajit Pawar’s younger brother Shriniwas Pawar, sisters and other family members, including cousin Abhijit Pawar, also paid tributes to their late brother.

Former CM Ashok Chavan, State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal, party leader Manikrao Thakare and actor Riteish Deshmukh also paid homage.

Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former CM Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray offered floral tributes at Ajit Pawar’s residence in Katewadi. On Thursday morning, the mortal remains of Ajit Pawar were taken from the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Hospital in Baramati, where they were kept overnight, to his village.

Pawar and four other persons on board the aircraft were killed after it crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of the tabletop airstrip.

The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt Shambhavi Pathak, with 1,500 hours of flying experience, Personal Security Officer Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali.

Their mortal remains have been handed over to their families. Police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) case in connection with the plane crash, an official said. The Government on Wednesday released a statement detailing the sequence of events that led to the crash and Ajit Pawar’s death.

The aircraft was cleared for landing after a go-around due to poor visibility, but having finally received a clearance, it did not give any read-back to the ATC, and moments later burst into flames near the edge of the airstrip. The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday said the ‘black box’ (comprising the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder) of the Learjet aircraft has been recovered.