Ajit Pawar Funeral: Maharashtra Dy CM Laid To Rest With Full State Honours, Baramati Mourns

Watch: Ajit Pawar cremated by sons Jay and Parth Pawar following full state honours in Baramati. Video: NDTV
 

This is the end of the live blog. 

Ajit Pawar's younger brother Shriniwas Pawar, sisters and other family members, including cousin Abhijit Pawar, also paid tributes to their late brother.

Ajit Pawar's cousin Supriya Sule, the NCP (SP) Lok Sabha member from Baramati, stood with Sunetra Pawar to console her as she paid tributes to her late husband.
 

Union ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Murlidhar Mohol, former Union minister Sharad Pawar, who is Ajit Pawar's uncle, and BJP president Nitin Nabin attended the 66-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief’s funeral.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde were also present at the Vidya Pratishthan ground in Baramati, the Pawar family's hometown, located 100 km from Pune.

Grief swept through Baramati in Pune district on Thursday as Maharashtra bid farewell to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who lost his life in a tragic plane crash, with his last rites performed with full state honours.

At the packed Vidya Pratishthan ground in Baramati, Pawar’s sons Parth and Jay lit the funeral pyre as his wife Sunetra, who is a Rajya Sabha member, struggled to hold back tears, while the air resonated with chants of “Ajit Dada amar rahe".

The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, killed in a plane crash, were held with full state honours on Thursday at Baramati in Pune district.

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.
 

Parth and Jay, sons of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, light the funeral pyre as they perform the last rites of their father.

Last rites of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar being performed with State honours in Baramati. Watch Video

Actor Riteish Deshmukh attends the last rites of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in Baramati.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde pays last respects to his colleague & Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in Baramati

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Goa CM Pramod Sawant pay last respects to Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in Baramati. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis lays a wreath and pays last respects to Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in Baramati.

Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar & Rajya Sabha MP, pays last respects to her husband, who lost his life in a plane crash yesterday. Watch video:

Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar & Rajya Sabha MP, mourns at the last rites of her husband.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's sons, Parth and Jay, perform the last rites rituals of their father, in Baramati

Baramati | Mortal remains of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, wrapped in Tricolour, brought to Vidya Pratishthan ground for the last rites

The National Flag, draped over the mortal remains of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar during the State funeral, handed over to his son Jay Pawar before the last rites.

Mortal remains of NCP Chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar arrive at Vidya Pratishthan ground for his last rites. 

In a post on X, the Ministry of Civil Aviation wrote, "Following the unfortunate aircraft accident near Baramati, all requisite response and investigative mechanisms were activated immediately. Ensuring a thorough, transparent, and time-bound inquiry remains a top priority.A team of three officers from AAIB, Delhi, and another team of three officers from the DGCA, Mumbai Regional Office, reached the crash site on 28 January. The Director General, AAIB, also arrived at the site the same day. The investigation is progressing expeditiously, and the black box of the ill-fated aircraft has been recovered."

"The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) remains fully committed to completing the investigation within a defined timeframe, strictly in accordance with established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and laid-down guidelines. The investigation has been initiated in accordance with Rules 5 and 11 of the AAIB Rules, 2025," wrote the Ministry.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde arrive at Baramati to attend the last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Hundreds of mourners thronged the residence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at his native village Katewadi near here on Thursday morning to pay their last respects to the leader who died in a plane crash. Grief-stricken people from Katewadi and nearby villages in Pune district, joined by NCP workers, made a beeline outside the residence gates, chanting slogans such as "Ajit Dada Amar Rahe" and "Ajit Dada Parat Ya" (Ajit Dada please come back).

People in large numbers walk towards Vidya Pratishthan ground to take part in the last rites of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in Baramati

The hearse van carrying the mortal remains of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar leaves from his Katewadi residence. His last rites will be performed at Vidya Pratishthan ground in Baramati. Watch Video

Vidip Dilip Jadhav, the personal security officer (PSO) of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, was laid to rest with full state honours in his native village in Satara last night. Jadhav was also on board the aircraft that crash-landed in Baramati yesterday.

NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar at Vidya Pratishthan ground for the last rites of Maharashtra Deputy CM and his nephew, Ajit Pawar

A pall of grief hung over the Safdarjung Enclave residence of Captain Shambhavi Pathak in New Delhi, curtains drawn and visitors moving in silence, as her mother, who was planning to get her married, grappled with the devastating loss of her daughter in a plane crash in Baramati that also had Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on board. 

At Pathak's southwest Delhi home, her mother, a teacher at the Air Force Bal Bharati School, was inconsolable. Her father, a retired Army pilot, travelled to Pune following the tragedy. The couple, both in their late 40s, was planning their daughter's marriage, locals said. Pathak's younger brother, aged around 22, is in the Navy.

Jay Pawar, son of Maharashtra Deputy CM late Ajit Pawar at their residence in Katewadi.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray and party leader Aaditya Thackeray visited Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar's Baramati residence to offer condolences to his family following his demise. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be among the leaders present at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's funeral, his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said.

In a post on X he wrote, "Today, the news of the loss of Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister and our senior NDA colleague Ajit Pawar ji in a tragic accident has left my heart deeply distressed. The way Ajit Pawar ji dedicated himself to the welfare of every section of society in Maharashtra over the past three and a half decades cannot be expressed in words. Whenever we met, he would engage in long discussions on numerous issues related to the welfare of the people of Maharashtra. His passing is a personal loss not only for the NDA family but also for me."

The death of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in a plane crash cast a shadow on the conclusion of Maghi Ganesh festival, with processions being held without fanfare in Thane city. The festival, which commenced on January 22 at Pachpakhadi, was originally planned as a massive cultural celebration.

BJP district president Sandeep Lele stated that the conclusion of the festival was kept strictly simple to honour the memory of the departed leader.

In place of the typical grand musical processions, hundreds of devotees escorted the decorated chariot in a peaceful, silent march. The immersion took place at the Kopri Mithbunder Ghat in Thane East.
 

Pinki Mali, a flight attendant from Bhainsa village in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, was among those killed in a plane crash that also claimed the life of NCP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and three others, officials and family sources said. Pinki had been living with her family in Mumbai and was on board the chartered aircraft that crashed. The news of her death brought deep mourning to her native village, with residents gathering to console her grieving family.

As news of the crash spread, a pall of gloom enveloped Bhainsa village and the surrounding area. Family members were inconsolable, while villagers remembered Pinki as a hardworking, warm, and promising young woman.

Ajit Pawar's mortal remains, which were at the Medical College in Baramati, were brought to the Vidya Pratishtan in a vehicle decked with flowers as people standing on both sides of the road got emotional and broke down.

A large number of people and party workers from Baramati as well across the state flocked to the town, synonymous with the politically powerful Pawar family, to pay tribute to the late leader.

Slogans like 'Ajit dada amar rahe" and "Ajit dada parat ya" (long live Ajit dada, Ajit dada come back) reverberated the air as the mortal remains were brought to the premises of the Vidya Pratishtan in his home turf of Baramati to allow people to pay their last respects to the NCP president.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's mortal remains were brought to an educational institute in Baramati in Pune district on Wednesday evening amid outpouring of emotions as grief-stricken NCP workers and local residents shouted slogans hailing the late leader.

Police registered an accidental death report (ADR) case in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others in Baramati in Pune district. 

As per procedure, the ADR will be handed over to the Maharashtra Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which will conduct a probe based on findings of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)'s inquiry. The AAIB, which functions under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, has already taken over the probe into the crash.