Plane crash kills prominent Indian politician Ajit Pawar

A plane crash has killed the deputy chief minister of India’s Maharashtra state, Ajit Pawar, the country’s aviation regulator has said.

The plane, which took off from Mumbai on Wednesday, crash-landed at the airport in Pawar’s constituency of Baramati, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Two members of the prominent politician’s staff and two crew were also reported to have been killed.

The cause of the crash has not yet been officially confirmed.

FlightRadar, an online flight tracking service, said the aircraft was attempting a second approach to Baramati Airport when it crashed.

The Times of India quoted aviation regulator officials as saying the aircraft, a Learjet 45 operated by a company called VSR, crashed at about 8:45am local time (03:15 GMT).

The newspaper said Pawar, the nephew of veteran politician Sharad Pawar, who founded the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was on his way to attend a public rally for the Zilla Parishad elections.

A witness quoted by the newspaper said the aircraft exploded moments after hitting the ground.

“When we rushed to the spot, the aircraft was on fire. There were four to five more explosions. People tried to pull the passengers out, but the fire was too intense,” said the witness.

Pawar, 66, built his political base through the grassroots cooperative movement. He was a key figure in state politics and served as the second-highest elected official in Maharashtra, as part of the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He wielded considerable influence in the state’s vibrant sugar belt and was known for his ability to mobilise rural voters.

Modi said on X that Pawar’s “untimely demise” was “very shocking and saddening”.

He was “widely respected as a hardworking personality”, the prime minister said, adding that “his passion for the empowerment of the poor and the deprived was particularly noteworthy.”