“Ajit Dada Amar Rahe” — the emotional slogan reverberated through the air as Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was laid to rest with full state honours at his home turf of Baramati on Thursday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP president Nitin Nabin, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, NCP founder and Ajit Pawar’s uncle Sharad Pawar, leaders from across the political spectrum, and people from all walks of life attended the funeral held at the premises of Vidya Pratishthan—an educational institution founded by the Pawar family.
Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar and his sons, Parth and Jay, were present at the ceremony. His cousin, Supriya Sule—daughter of Sharad Pawar—also attended the last rites.
Earlier, the mortal remains, draped in the national flag, were brought from his native village of Katewadi to Baramati for the final rites. People standing on both sides of the road were seen overcome with emotion as slogans such as “Ajit Dada amar rahe” and “Ajit Dada parat ya” (Long live Ajit Dada, come back Ajit Dada) echoed along the route.
According to the original plan, the funeral procession was to pass through five locations before reaching the Vidya Pratishthan ground. However, as per an NDTV report, authorities decided to take the body directly to the cremation site due to its deteriorating condition and the rapidly swelling crowds.
Ajit Pawar (66), the longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, was travelling to Baramati to attend a rally for the Zilla Parishad elections when his chartered aircraft crashed and went up in flames on Wednesday morning.
According to a government release, the Learjet aircraft had been cleared for landing at Baramati after executing a go-around due to poor visibility. However, after receiving final clearance, it failed to give any read-back to air traffic control (ATC) and moments later burst into flames near the edge of the runway.