Following the untimely death of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar, Kiran Gujjar, a member of the Vidya Pratishthan and a close associate of the Pawar family, has made a significant revelation.
Amid the uncertainty over the next course of action of Ajit Pawar's NCP, Gujjar said that the deceased leader's last wish was to unite the two factions of the party.
Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash on Wednesday morning. His last rites were performed on Thursday by his sons, Parth and Jay, at the Vidya Pratishthan Ground in Baramati.
Speaking to the media after the final ceremony of ashes immersion, Kiran Gujjar said, "Today, Ajit Pawar's ashes were immersed. Dada's last wish was that both factions of the NCP should merge. Everyone should unite. This was being discussed in the entire family. In my last phone call to him, he had asked me for some election-related papers."
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The speculations over the reunification came after the two camps united in the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal polls. An earlier report by The Indian Express, citing sources, stated that Ajit and Sharad Pawar were at an advanced stage of talks regarding unification and were set to announce it on February 8, after the Zila Parishad elections.
Ajit Pawar and four others were flying in the Learjet 45, operated by VSR Ventures. It was en route from Mumbai to Baramati for election rallies when it crashed around 8:45 am while attempting a second landing at Baramati Airport.
All five individuals on board Captain Kapoor, co-pilot Captain Shambhavi Pathak, flight attendant Pinky Mali, Pawar's security guard Vidip Jadhav, and Pawar himself tragically lost their lives in the crash.