Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday condoled the demise of co-Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a charter plane crash in Baramati. He also assured to investigate the accident.
Addressing the late NCP leader as “Ajit da”, Shinde reminded that it was extremely sad and “a big loss for Maharashtra.”
Shinde told reporters, “He and I were working as a team for the progress of Maharashtra and now with his demise, a part of the team and my elder brother too have been separated from us. We worked together as a team in the cabinet, as a team we started the Girl Child Scheme, and Ajit Dada played an important role in it.”
The Shiv Sena leader said, “I pray that his family finds courage to overcome this sad time. Ajit Pawar’s demise is a big loss for the state, a dark day for the state. This incident is very sad for everyone. Our colleague Ajit Pawar grandfather passed away in a plane crash.”
Shinde said, “He was a clear communicator, eloquent and a hard-working person. He was a simple and committed leader. Words like ‘Let us see, let us think…’ were not in his dictionary. He did not wait for anything, whatever he wanted to do, he did it immediately and did not hesitate at all in saying no to projects and plans. Although he appeared to be tough, he was a very good person at heart. I have experienced this myself.”
The Shiv Sena leader said, “Ajit Pawar was a man who valued time and there were many instances where he gave people appointments as early as 6 in the morning. He was a learned, courageous and disciplined leader.”
Ajit Pawar has also been the Finance and Planning Minister of Maharashtra and has presented the budget of Maharashtra in the past.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said, “He was a great leader of Maharashtra. He had joined the Mahayuti for the development of the state. He did remarkable work for Maharashtra and achieved great success in the local body elections of Maharashtra. His sudden death in the plane crash is a big loss for Maharashtra.”
The small charter plane carrying Ajit Pawar took off from Mumbai around 8 am and crashed near Baramati airport while attempting to land 45 minutes later.
Ajit Pawar has been the longest serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, although this tenure was not continuous. He held the post of Deputy Chief Minister six times in different governments. He served as Deputy Chief Minister in the cabinets of Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.