Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar Is One of Five People Killed in a Plane Crash
Ajit Pawar was a career politician in India.
Published Jan. 28 2026, 10:28 a.m. ET
A flight attendant on a plane traveling from Mumbai to Baramati on Jan. 28, 2026, called her father before the flight. According to NDTV, Pinky Mali was making plans to see her father once she landed. She told him Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was on her flight, and after dropping him off, Mali would then go to Naded. Mali promised her father they would chat tomorrow. "I told her, 'We'll talk tomorrow after your work.' But that tomorrow will never arrive," said Shivkumar Mali.
All five people on board were killed when the charter plane crashed near Baramati airport in Pune district at approximately 8:45 a.m. "I do not know what exactly happened, as I have no technical knowledge about such incidents," said Shivkumar. "I am completely shattered." What happened to the plane carrying Pawar, Mali, and three others? Here's what we know.
What happened to Ajit Pawar and the four passengers who died in the plane crash?
According to The Times of India, the Learjet 45 carrying Pawar and four other passengers burst into flames after crashing at Baramati. It departed Mumbai at 8:10 a.m. Eight minutes later, the pilot contacted Baramati ATC to report they were unable to see the runway. Preliminary information indicates "poor visibility" at the time of landing, said Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu.
The plane circled the runway once and tried to land again. After the pilot reported the runway was visible, the aircraft was cleared for landing at 8:43 a.m. One minute later ATC said they saw flames on the runway. The official crash time has been listed as 8:45 a.m. The incident is being investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
The crash took the lives of Pilot-in-Command Sumit Kapur, Second-in-Command Shambhavi Pathak, Mali, Pawar, and his personal security officer Vidip Jadhav. So far, we know that the plane had valid certifications and recent airworthiness reviews. Prior to landing clearance, the crew was communicating with ATC about visibility.
Pawar was the second-highest elected official in Maharashtra.
Pawar's political career began in 1982 when, at the age of 23, he was elected to the board of a cooperative sugar factory. The young man was heavily influenced by his uncle, who became the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 1978. Nine years after he won his first election, Pawar was elected as the chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank in 1991. He held the position for 16 years.
In June 1999, Pawar's uncle co-founded the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Pawar quickly joined and served "several terms as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister in coalitions led by the NCP over the past two decades," per Al Jazeera. He was sworn in as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister for a sixth time in February 2024. His time as deputy chief minister was marked by "large-scale infrastructure projects, including wider roads and improved civic facilities."
Pawar was also accused of fraud in two separate scandals. Investigations into both allegations were inconclusive. Questions of what will happen to his region are already being asked.