Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar was killed on Wednesday (Janaury 28, 2026) morning after an aircraft carrying them crashed in Pune district. In a political career spanning about four decades, it had been only 2.5 years since Pawar stepped out of the long shadow of his uncle and undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar held several key ministerial portfolios in Maharashtra from 1999 onwards, including Irrigation, Water Conservation, Energy & Planning, and Finance. He was Deputy Chief Minister on multiple occasions, with charge of Finance and Planning from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2019 to 2022, and returned as Deputy Chief Minister in July 2023 following the split in the NCP. The five-time Deputy Chief Minister under various Chief Ministers, once said: “I want to become Chief Minister one day and implement my own plans for the people’s welfare.” But the plane crash cut his life short.

Source: The Hindu January 28, 2026 15:21 UTC