On 28 January 2026 a terrible thing happened. Ajit Pawar, who was the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and an important person in the states politics died in a plane crash. The private plane he was on crashed when it was landing at Baramati Airport in Pune district. This was very sad because everyone on the plane died. There were five people on the plane including Ajit Pawar the people flying the plane his security person and someone who helped him. This was a shocking thing that happened in Indian politics and it is something that people will remember for a long time. Ajit Pawars death was a loss for Maharashtra and, for India.
The plane, which is a Learjet 45XR from VSR Aviation with the registration VT-SSK took off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Wednesday morning. Pawar was on the Learjet 45XR from VSR Aviation to go to Baramati. He was going to talk to people at political gatherings before the Zilla Parishad elections.
At 8:45 AM IST the Learjet 45XR from VSR Aviation tried to land on Runway 11 at Baramati Airport.. The Learjet 45XR from VSR Aviation lost its balance. It crash-landed 100 feet before it could reach the runway. Then the Learjet 45XR, from VSR Aviation caught fire when it hit the ground.
People who saw what happened at the site said the aircraft was on fire with pieces of it all over an open field. This made it really hard for people to try and rescue anyone. At first it seems like it was hard to see and the weather was bad which might have caused the aircraft to not land properly. The people, in charge are still trying to figure out what really happened.
Ajit Pawar was an important person in Maharashtra politics. He was sixty six years old. Ajit Pawar was the nephew of Sharad Pawar who’s a big leader. Ajit Pawar represented the people of Baramati in the state assembly for a time. He won elections and held important jobs.
Ajit Pawar was good at understanding the needs of people. He did a lot of work for the people in villages. Helped with cooperative movements. On Ajit Pawar became the Deputy Chief Minister in the Mahayuti coalition government.
Now that Ajit Pawar is no more there is an empty space in state politics. This is especially true for the Nationalist Congress Party faction that Ajit Pawar was, in charge of.
National leaders were really upset and sad about what happened. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah called Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to say how sorry they were and to offer help with the investigation that is going on. Narendra Modi said that the loss of Pawar is a shocking loss for the nation and he praised Pawar for working for the people for such a long time. Narendra Modi and other national leaders think that Pawar will be missed because of his service, to the nation.
The Maharashtra government is really sad about what happened. They have decided that for three days they will show respect, for the leader. This means that flags will be flown at mast and official functions will be smaller.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are trying to figure out what exactly caused the crash of the plane. They want to know if it was because of a problem or something to do with the weather. They are looking into the crash of the plane to find out what really happened to the plane.
Pawar’s death has triggered both grief and calls for deeper scrutiny of aviation safety protocols for chartered flights carrying high-profile officials, especially amid heightened travel in campaign seasons.
