By Dhruvi Shah
On the 28th of January 2026 at Baramati, Pune district, a chartered plane carrying Ajit Pawar- the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and all five of his fellow passengers crashed due to poor visibility on the runway as it attempted landing for the second time. Upon the plane veering off course, it exploded and there were no survivors.
Worthy of note, Ajit Pawar, 66, was one of the most experienced politicians in Maharashtra; having served as Deputy Chief Minister on multiple occasions, his uncle being the long-standing politician of Maharashtra- Sharad Pawar and he was involved in shaping both regional political alliances and regional governance strategies, as well as being involved in this process over decades.
Following news of the crash, there was an immediate outpouring of grief, with the State declaring 3 Days of Mourning, the flag lowered to half-mast over all government buildings and all government offices closing as a show of respect to Mr Pawar; Every political leader (including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi) expressed condolences and loss.
Not only does this incident have an end to a lengthy political career but it has also created uncertainty among both the party and the power dynamics in the state, as everyone (including officials and average citizens) wants to know what happened that made this approach such a catastrophic experience. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has begun an official inquiry into the corrective causes of the accident.