New Delhi [India], January 28 : Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad on Wednesday mourned the demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, saying the entire state would be in grief following the tragic incident.
Describing his death as "unfortunate," Gaikwad said she was shocked by the news and recalled working with him during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.
"I heard the news about Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. This is really unfortunate. When we had the Maha Vikas Aghadi govt (in Maharashtra), I received the opportunity to work with him. Entire Maharashtra knows his work style...I think entire Maharashtra would be sad today...I express my condolences to him and also on behalf of my party. I am shocked," Varsha Gaikwad told reporters.
TDP MP Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu also expressed sorrow over Pawar's demise, recalling his interactions with him during visits to Baramati.
"What happened is very sad. I had a few interactions with him. I had a chance to visit Baramati constituency to understand how the Pawar family- Ajit Pawar ji, Sharad Pawar kji, Supriya Sule ji worked for the farmers there. He was there to handhold us in Baramati," Devarayalu told ANI.
DMK leader TKS. Elangovan termed Pawar's death as a loss to the nation. "Ajit Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, died in a plane crash... Maybe the civil aviation experts will issue a report. But it is a loss to the country... I convey all my sympathies to his family," he told ANI.
Ajit Pawar died in the plane crash on Wednesday morning in Maharashtra's Baramati.
According to DGCA, five people, including the crew, on board the chartered plane flying from Mumbai, Maharashtra, to Baramati died after a crash-landing at 8.45 am this morning. The crash landing of the Mumbai-Baramati charter plane occurred at the runway threshold in Baramati. Pawar was onboard along with 2 more personnel (1 PSO and 1 attendant) and 2 crew members. Further details about the crash are awaited.
Pawar was headed to Baramati to attend a public rally for the Zilla Parishad Elections. Pawar was in Mumbai on Tuesday, where he attended a meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure, chaired by CM Devendra Fadnavis. Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and other officials were also present.
Ajit Pawar was the longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra non-consecutively. He served in the position for six terms within various governments. He had worked as deputy chief minister in the cabinets of Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.