Ajit Pawar laid rest with State Honours; HM Amit Shah and political leaders paid respect
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a tragic plane crash on Wednesday, was laid to rest with full state honours on Thursday at the Vidya Pratishthan ground in Baramati, his political stronghold.
Thousands of mourners gathered to pay their final respects as his sons, Jay Pawar and Parth Pawar, performed the last rites and lit the funeral pyre. Supporters chanted “Ajit Dada Amar Rahe,” a testament to the deep affection and respect the veteran Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader commanded among the people.
The funeral was attended by several senior political figures, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, senior Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde and his daughter Praniti Shinde, as well as actor Riteish Deshmukh. Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, along with close family members including his nephew Rohit Pawar, were present throughout the ceremony.
Ajit Pawar, fondly known as “Ajit Dada,” was born on July 22, 1959, in Deolali Pravara, Ahmednagar district. He began his political journey in cooperative institutions, working with milk unions, sugar factories, cooperative societies, and banks, before entering electoral politics. In 1991, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Baramati but later vacated the seat for his uncle, Sharad Pawar, to focus on state politics.
Over the years, Ajit Pawar became Maharashtra’s longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister, holding the post non-consecutively for six terms under the administrations of Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray, and Eknath Shinde. He also held multiple key ministerial portfolios, shaping policies across the state and remaining closely connected to his constituency.
Ajit Pawar’s death in a plane crash, which also claimed the lives of five others, has left a void in Maharashtra politics. The state government has announced three days of mourning, with national flags flown at half-mast across government buildings.
