New Delhi [India], January 29 : NCP-SCP MP Fauzia Khan on Thursday expressed profound grief over the demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, remembering him as family and lauding him as a skilled organiser and administrator.
Speaking to ANI, Fauzia Khan said the shock and pain following Ajit Pawar's demise were beyond words.
"The pain and shock we are in cannot be expressed in words. He was the elder brother of Maharashtra and always worked with everyone collectively," she said.
Recalling her long association with the late leader, Khan said she had worked closely with Ajit Pawar for over 25 years and considered him family.
"I worked with him for 25 years. He was family to us. He could balance the family, relations and ideology. Dada was a skilled organiser and administrator. Everyone in Maharashtra is deeply in pain," she added.
Ajit Pawar, 66, died on Wednesday morning after the aircraft carrying him crashed while attempting to land at Baramati airport in Pune district. The plane crash-landed near the runway threshold, killing all five people on board the chartered plane. Among the deceased were his personal security officer, a flight attendant and two pilots.
The crash occurred around 8.48 am. Pawar was on his way to Baramati from Mumbai to campaign for the Zilla Panchayat elections.
Earlier today, the last rites of Ajit Pawar were held with full state honours at the Vidya Pratishthan ground in Baramati, where his sons lit the funeral pyre and performed the final rituals.
Several prominent leaders and dignitaries, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar, and actor Riteish Deshmukh, attended the funeral and paid their last respects.
Pawar's sons, Parth and Jay, performed the last rites of their father. Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar and Rajya Sabha MP, also paid her last respects to her husband.
A large number of people also gathered at the Vidya Pratishthan ground to bid a final farewell to the Nationalist Congress Party leader, reflecting the widespread public mourning over his demise.
On Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu informed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) had initiated a formal investigation into the recent aircraft accident that claimed the lives of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others.
In response to a letter from Chief Minister Fadnavis, the Union Minister said the aircraft's black box has been taken into custody and that the investigation has commenced in accordance with the Aircraft Accident and Incident Rules. He assured that the probe would be conducted transparently and time-boundly.