Ajit Pawar Death News: On Wednesday morning, the sad news about the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others in a plane crash in Pune's Baramati swept through the nation, triggering condolence messages from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commonman. Pawar, who held deep influence in Maharashtra politics, headed to Baramati to participate in a poll campaign for the panchayat election, when the tragic incident happened.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a condolence message, saying India lost a leader connected with grassroots. "Shri Ajit Pawar Ji was a leader of the people, having a strong grassroots level connect. He was widely respected as a hardworking personality at the forefront of serving the people of Maharashtra. His understanding of administrative matters and passion for empowering the poor and downtrodden were also noteworthy. His untimely demise is very shocking and saddening. Condolences to his family and countless admirers. Om Shanti," the prime minister wrote on social media.
Unfortunately, India has a long history of losing top politicians in plane crashes.
Here, we listed top politicians who lost their lives in tragic plane crashes:
- Sanjay Gandhi (1946-1980): Son of Indira Gandhi and a towering Congress leader during his mother's rule died in a small plane crash while piloting in Delhi on 23 June 1980. 33-year-old Sanjay was considered Indira Gandhi's successor. The accident occurred when Gandhi was piloting a two-seater aircraft, which crashed near Safdarjung Airport.
- Madhavrao Scindia (1945 -2001): Former Civil Aviation Minister lost his life whan a Cessna plane crashed while en route to Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) on 30 September 2001. Scindia, father of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, was a prominent figure during the Congress rule. He was a senior Congress leader and a member of the Gwalior royal family. He died in a chartered plane crash in Bhogaon, Mainpuri district. At the time of the accident, he was on his way to address a rally in Kanpur. All those on board the aircraft died in the crash.
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- YS Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) (1949-2009): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader died after his helicopter crashed in the Nallamala forest on September 2, 2009. The crash site was located after a massive search operation. He was popularly known as YSR.
- Vijay Rupani (1956-2025): Former Gujarat Chief Minister and senior BJP leader died in an Air India flight crash en route from Ahmedabad to London on June 12, 2025. The accident claimed the lives of 241 people on board, including Rupani (68). The plane had taken off from Ahmedabad bound for London and crashed a few minutes later. Rupani served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2016 to 2021.
- Dorjee Khandu (1955-2011): Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister was killed a helicopter crash near the China border on April 30, 2011.
- GMC Balayogi (1951-2002): Lok Sabha Speaker and TDP leader was killed after his helicopter crashed in Andhra Pradesh's Kaikalur on March 3, 2002.
- OP Jindal (1930-2005): Haryana Power Minister and a noted industrialist lost his life in a helicopter crash in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) on March 31, 2005.
- Balwantrai Mehta (1900-1965): Gujarat Chief Minister's plane was mistakenly shot down by a Pakistani fighter jet during the 1965 Indo-Pak war on September 19, 1965.
Mohan Kumaramangalam (1916-1973): Congress leader and former Union Minister died after the Indian Airlines Flight 440 crashed near Delhi on May 31, 1973.