Kumar Bahukhandi
Police personnel carry mortal remains of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar during his funeral, at Baramati in Pune district, Thursday. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)
Baramati: The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, killed in a plane crash, were held with full state honours on Thursday January 29, 2026 at Baramati in Pune district. Union ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, former Union minister Sharad Pawar and BJP president Nitin Nabin attended the 66-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief’s funeral at the Vidya Pratishthan ground at Baramati, around 100 km from Pune.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde were also present, along with Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra, who is a Rajya Sabha member, and sons Parth and Jay. Ajit Pawar’s cousin Supriya Sule, Lok Sabha member from Baramati, and NCP working president and former Union minister Praful Patel were also present.
Thousands of people gathered for Ajit Pawar’s last rites chanted “Ajit Dada amar rahe”, when his mortal remains, draped in the national flag, were brought from his village Katewadi to the Vidya Pratishthan ground.
Shah, Gadkari, Nabin, Fadnavis, Union minister Ramdas Athawale, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Eknath Shinde, former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh were among the leaders who placed floral wreaths on Pawar’s mortal remains.
Parth and Jay lit their father’s funeral pyre.
On Thursday morning, the mortal remains of Ajit Pawar were taken from the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Hospital in Baramati, where they were kept overnight, to his village.
Pawar and four other persons on board the aircraft were killed after it crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of the tabletop airstrip.
The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak with 1,500 hours of flying, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali.
Their mortal remains have been handed over to their families, hospital sources said.
Police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) case in connection with the plane crash, an official said.
The government Wednesday released a statement detailing the sequence of events that led to the crash and Ajit Pawar’s death.
The aircraft was cleared for landing after a go-around due to poor visibility, but having finally received a clearance, it did not give any read-back to the ATC, and moments later burst into flames near the edge of the airstrip.
The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday said the “black box” (comprising the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorde) of the Learjet aircraft has been recovered.
29 January 2026 12:08 PM Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde pays last respects to his colleague & Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in Baramati
Actor Riteish Deshmukh attends the last rites of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in Baramati
29 January 2026 11:33 AM Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s sons, Parth and Jay, perform the last rites rituals of their father, in Baramati
29 January 2026 11:32 AM Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Goa CM Pramod Sawant attend the last rites of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar
29 January 2026 11:31 AM Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar & Rajya Sabha MP, mourns at the last rites of her husband
29 January 2026 11:08 AM Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh and Revenue Minister A Satya Prasad left for Baramati on Thursday to attend the last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
29 January 2026 10:52 AM NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule gestures during the funeral of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, at Baramati – PTI
29 January 2026 10:51 AM NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar arrives to attend the funeral of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, at Baramati
29 January 2026 10:47 AM
