New Delhi (Web Desk): The deputy chief minister of India’s state of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar was killed on Wednesday when a chartered plane carrying him and four others crashed and caught fire, India’s aviation authorities confirmed.
According to media reports, Pawar — a prominent figure from one of the state’s most powerful political families — was travelling to his home turf to campaign in local body elections.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said two of his aides and two crew members were also on board the aircraft.
In its preliminary statement, the regulator said there were no survivors. “No person on board has survived,” the DGCA stated
Pawar had aligned himself with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of Maharashtra’s ruling coalition. He headed a faction that broke away from the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 2023, a split that significantly altered the state’s political dynamics.
Visuals aired by media outlets showed heavy smoke rising from the charred remains of the aircraft, which were strewn across an open field.
Reports said the flight had taken off from Mumbai and was attempting an emergency landing near Baramati — Pawar’s political base located roughly 250 kilometres away — where he was due to take part in election campaigning.
Indian, Prime Minister Modi shared a condolence message on X, saying he was deeply saddened by the air crash in Baramati. He extended his sympathies to the families of those who died and prayed for strength for them in their time of grief.
The fatal crash occurred just a week after an Indian Air Force training aircraft went down in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, though both pilots survived that incident.
It also follows a major aviation tragedy in July 2025, when an Air India flight headed for London crashed soon after takeoff, killing more than 200 of the 242 people on board.
That disaster, described as the deadliest in a decade worldwide, had only one known survivor after the plane fell into a residential neighbourhood and struck a medical college hostel.