Ajit Pawar laid to rest with state honours as leaders across parties gather in Baramati

The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash earlier this week, were held with full state honours on Thursday at Baramati in Pune district. Thousands of people gathered to pay their final respects as his mortal remains, draped in the national flag, were brought to the Vidya Pratishthan ground from his native village Katewadi.

Chants of “Ajit Dada amar rahe” echoed through the crowd as the funeral procession passed through the town.

According to PTI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, former Union Minister Sharad Pawar and BJP president Nitin Nabin were among the senior leaders who attended the funeral. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde were also present.

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Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha member, and his sons Parth and Jay attended the cremation. His cousin Supriya Sule, Lok Sabha MP from Baramati, NCP working president Praful Patel, and several senior leaders from across parties were also present.

Leaders pay last respects

Union ministers and state leaders placed floral wreaths on Pawar’s mortal remains, including Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nitin Nabin, Devendra Fadnavis, Ramdas Athawale, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Eknath Shinde, former Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh.

Parth and Jay Pawar lit the funeral pyre.

Earlier in the day, the mortal remains were taken from the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Hospital in Baramati, where they had been kept overnight, to the funeral venue.

Details of the crash

Ajit Pawar and four others were killed when the Learjet aircraft they were travelling in crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of the tabletop airstrip at Baramati while attempting to land.

Those who died in the crash included Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had logged over 15,000 flying hours, co-pilot Captain Shambhavi Pathak with about 1,500 hours of flying experience, personal security officer Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali. Hospital authorities said the mortal remains of the victims have been handed over to their families.

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Police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) in connection with the incident, officials said.

The Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed on Thursday that the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, collectively referred to as the black box of the Learjet aircraft have been recovered. The government has said the aircraft had been cleared for landing after a go-around due to poor visibility but failed to give a read-back to air traffic control moments before the crash.