Ajit Pawar plane crash: MPs across parties express grief over Dy CM's death

Members of Parliament cutting across party lines on Wednesday expressed deep shock and grief over the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who was killed in a charter aircraft crash near Baramati earlier in the dayArvind Sawant Varsha Gaikwad recall Pawarrsquos leadership and workAn emotional Shiv Sena UBT MP Arvind Sawant said the news had left the Pawar family devastated Calling the loss ldquoextremely painfulrdquo Sawant described Pawar as a decisive and fearless leader who played a crucial role in shaping the development of the Baramati region He extended his condolences to the entire Pawar familyWATCH Delhi On Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawars death in a charter plane crash in Baramati Shiv Sena UBT MP Arvind Sawant says I always did what he said He was a bold man He had a big role in the development of the Baramati region I express my condolences to thehellip pictwittercomx763glD5XQmdash ANI ANI January 28 2026Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad said the tragedy had stunned Maharashtra Recalling her time working with Pawar during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government she said his work ethic and administrative style were widely respected ldquoThe entire state is grieving todayrdquo she said offering condolences on behalf of her partyWATCH On the death of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in a crash landing in Baramati Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad says I heard the news about Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar This is really unfortunate When we had the Maha Vikas Aghadi govt in Maharashtra I received thehellip pictwittercomvajabSDtqcmdash ANI ANI January 28 2026Priyanka Chaturvedi calls loss lsquoimmeasurablersquoAjit Pawar was the nephew of veteran NCP founder Sharad Pawar and the cousin of Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule Most MPs were in the national capital for the Budget Session of Parliament which begins todayShiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi termed the incident ldquoshocking painful and heartrendingrdquo While acknowledging political differences she said Pawar was deeply committed to his work and expressed sympathy to Sharad Pawar Supriya Sule Sunetra Pawar Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar as well as the people of Baramati calling the loss ldquoimmeasurablerdquoCharter aircraft crashed during landing near BaramatiAccording to officials the small charter aircraft took off from Mumbai around 8 am and crashed near Baramati airport about 45 minutes later while attempting to land Visuals from the site showed flames smoke and the wreckage of the aircraft The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said all passengers on board the plane died in the crashThe Maharashtra government said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to receive updates on the accidentCalls for probe leaders recall Pawarrsquos political legacyRevolutionary Socialist Party MP N K Premachandran called the incident shocking and said the cause of the crash must be thoroughly investigated DMK MP T Siva described Pawar as a dynamic leader and said he was at a loss for words over the tragedyUnion Minister H D Kumaraswamy expressed his condolences to the bereaved family while Union Minister Giriraj Singh said the crash marked a deeply tragic day for the country calling Pawarrsquos death an irreparable loss to national politicsPawar was travelling to Baramati to attend a public rally for the Zilla Parishad elections He had been in Mumbai a day earlier for a meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure chaired by CM Fadnavis which was also attended by state minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and senior officialsAjit Pawar was the longestserving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in nonconsecutive terms having held the post six times under different governments led by Prithviraj Chavan Devendra Fadnavis Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde He is survived by his wife Sunetra Pawar and their two sons Jay and Parth PawarWith inputs from ANI