Thane, Jan 28 (IANS) Following the tragic demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on Wednesday morning, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde offered his heartfelt condolences and said he prayed to God to give strength to the family to bear this irreparable loss.

Speaking to reporters, Eknath Shinde said, “I offer my heartfelt condolences and pray to God to give Ajit Pawar’s family the strength to overcome this grief. I earnestly pray to God for the same during this extremely difficult time.”

Shinde also stressed the need for a thorough investigation into the incident.

“This unfortunate accident must be probed so that such incidents do not occur again in the future. A detailed investigation will definitely take place. When I was the Chief Minister, several important decisions were taken in the interest of society, and at that time Ajit Pawar was the Finance Minister. His contributions to those decisions were significant and cannot be overlooked,” he said.

Maharashtra Minister Sanjay Shirsat said the news of Ajit Pawar’s death was extremely difficult to accept.

“The tragic death of Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Dada in a plane crash is still hard to believe. Just yesterday, we met him during the Cabinet meeting. Even then, I mentioned to my colleagues that Dada did not appear to be physically well. We never imagined that he would be gone today,” Shirsat said.

NCP National Spokesperson Brij Mohan Srivastava told IANS that the incident occurred earlier in the day. “Ajit Pawar was travelling to Baramati for an official programme when the incident took place before the aircraft could land. There were other passengers on board as well. The exact cause of the crash is not yet known, but the aircraft caught fire completely, and sadly, respected Ajit Pawar is no longer with us,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar and five others died in a plane crash near Baramati on Wednesday. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has confirmed that all six passengers on board are dead.

The plane crashed while landing near Baramati. Visuals from the spot show fire and smoke, mangled remains of the plane, and ambulances rushing the injured to nearby hospitals. There were people at the wreckage site trying to extend help in every possible way.

This incident occurred around 9 a.m., an hour after the plane took off from Mumbai.

Deputy CM Pawar’s family rushed to the accident site. Incidentally, his wife and party MP Sunetra, and son, Parth, were set to leave for Baramati from Delhi, along with the leader’s cousin, and NCP-SP working president Supriya Sule.

Amid ongoing elections to the Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis, Dy CM Ajit Pawar was traveling from Mumbai to Baramati to attend a public meeting.

Emergency services and senior security officials have reached the site in Baramati. Rescue teams were deployed immediately after the aircraft lost control during the landing phase.

–IANS

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