Senior state leader among five dead as small plane crashes in India photo / video

Five people were killed in India after a light aircraft crashed while operating a domestic flight, including Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar. The plane went down as it was approaching for landing near its destination airport.

Indian television channel NDTV reported that the aircraft had taken off from Mumbai and crashed close to the city of Baramati in the western state of Maharashtra. Initial information indicated that both passengers and crew members were on board, and none survived the crash.

Emergency and rescue teams were immediately deployed to the scene. Authorities are investigating the possible causes of the accident, focusing on scenarios such as technical failure and pilot error. Officials said final conclusions would be reached once the investigation is completed.

Ajit Pawar, 66, was the nephew of veteran politician and NCP founder Sharad Pawar, as well as the cousin of Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule. Sharad Pawar and Sule were in Delhi attending Parliament’s budget session and are expected to depart for Pune shortly. Ajit Pawar is survived by his wife Sunetra and his two sons, Parth and Jay.

Ajit Pawar

The flight was operated by a company named VSR and involved a Learjet 45 aircraft. A plane of the same model had previously crashed in Mumbai in September 2023.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences, calling Pawar’s death “shocking and saddening.”

"Shri Ajit Pawar Ji was a leader of the people, having a strong grassroots-level connect. He was widely respected as a hardworking personality at the forefront of serving the people of Maharashtra. His understanding of administrative matters and passion for empowering the poor and downtrodden were also noteworthy. His untimely demise is very shocking and saddening. Condolences to his family and countless admirers. Om Shanti," he said on X.

By Tamilla Hasanova