Baramati mourns its Ajit ‘Dada’

The roads in Baramati were teeming with people as mourners flooded the streets to reach Vidya Pratishthan, an educational campus of the Pawars, on Wednesday (January 28, 2026) evening, after the mortal remains of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar were brought.

Ajit Pawar plane crash LIVE

All shops were shut and police presence was beefed up, as hundreds of vehicles made a beeline. A few kilometres away, at the crash site near the Baramati airstrip, police were deployed to control the crowd that thronged the site.

Forensic teams walked into the crash site to collect samples, as ambulances and convoys zapped past the airstrip. Mr. Pawar’s plane had crashed just a few metres from the runway, near a field. The impact was so severe, said eyewitnesses, that they heard several blasts in the morning.

“We have deployed quite a few police personnel here as the crowds kept swelling,” a police officer said.

As the sun set and TV journalists did walkthroughs to show the crowd and the site, State Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal’s convoy trundled in. “It is a shock. We were sitting together just yesterday, held a few meetings. He was a strong leader who held the entire party together. I don’t know what will happen now,” he said.

NCP leader Zeeshan Siddiqui said Mr. Pawar’s death was an “unfathomable shock”.

The family of a bodyguard of the deceased leader broke down as it rushed to Baramati from Mumbai.

At Vidya Pratishthan, Usha Namdev Gadadare sat quietly in a corner, holding back tears. A widow of a war hero, she said ‘Ajit Dada’ was more than family to her.

“As soon as I saw the news on TV, I rushed from Neera. He was so sensitive towards the needs of the poor. Last year, when I went to Mumbai at the Sahyadri guest house, he called me even as scores of men were waiting. I only sent my name and ‘veerpatni’ (wife of a war hero) written on a chit. He told me that I should contact him if I faced any troubles,” she recalled. “He immediately helped me get a few acres of land under the government scheme meant for war widows. He also donated ₹25 lakh after he came to know that a memorial of my husband was pending due to lack of funds,” she said.

A few metres away, Rajya Sabha MP and Mr. Pawar’s cousin, Supriya Sule, ran hurriedly between a room, where all senior leaders were sitting with Sharad Pawar, and the porch of Vidya Pratishthan. Praful Patel was seen by the side of the family, and so was NCP leader Jayant Patil.

Outside the main porch, hundreds of party workers gathered, shouting slogans. Burly men broke down amid the crowd and hugged each other, as the family members and the staffers bore a stoic look.

A frail Sharad Pawar walked out after the meetings, amid sloganeering by party workers. The tragic death of a rebellious son had brought the entire family together. The senior Pawar would not have wanted such a reunion.