Ajit Pawar To Vijay Rupani: India's Top Leaders Killed In Plane Accidents | Full List

Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), tragically lost his life in a plane crash early this morning, January 28. He was flying from Mumbai to Baramati when the small aircraft went down near Baramati airport while attempting to land. Along with Pawar, four others on board, including the pilots and his security personnel, also died in the crash. The plane had taken off from Mumbai around 8 AM and the crash occurred roughly an hour later.

According to a report in NDTV, Pawar was scheduled to attend several important public meetings connected to the upcoming local body elections. Emergency responders arrived at the site. Visuals from the scene show fire, twisted metal and scattered debris. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation confirmed the fatalities and has begun an investigation into the cause.

Pawar, aged 66, was a prominent political figure, nephew of NCP founder Sharad Pawar and cousin of Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule, who were in Delhi for the Parliament’s budget session. They are expected to travel to Pune in the wake of the tragedy.

India has witnessed several political leaders losing their lives while travelling by air often during official duties. One of the earliest such incidents was the death of Sanjay Gandhi in 1980 when the 33-year-old Congress leader died in an aerobatic plane crash near Delhi’s Safdarjung Airport. His sudden death shocked the political establishment and raised serious questions about safety during private flying.