Ajit Pawar's last Facebook post hours before plane crash: 'Sacrificed everything...'

Ajit Pawar

• Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash while landing in Baramati on Wednesday morning
• Maharashtra declared three-day mourning and a holiday after Pawar's death
• Pawar's last posts honored Lala Lajpat Rai and discussed cabinet decisions.

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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar died early Wednesday morning after his plane crashed while landing in Baramati.

Hours before the crash, Pawar was active on social media. In his last Facebook post, he paid tribute to freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai on the occasion of his birth anniversary.

In the post, Pawar wrote that Lajpat Rai had sacrificed everything for the country’s freedom and that his patriotism would continue to inspire generations.

Additionally, Pawar made his final post on X (formerly Twitter) late Tuesday, discussing a cabinet meeting and key government decisions, accompanied by a photo.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a three-day state mourning and a holiday on Wednesday following Pawar's death in the aircraft crash near Baramati.

Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde are travelling to Baramati, with plans to decide further actions after consulting Pawar’s family. " This morning, a very tragic incident occurred, " Fadnavis stated. " The news of our Deputy Chief Minister's demise in an aircraft accident has spread grief across Maharashtra.”

Fadnavis described the day as “extremely difficult” for the state, calling Pawar’s death “unbelievable and shocking,” and expressed that he had lost “a strong and generous friend,” emphasising the immense loss to Pawar’s family.

Pawar, 66, was on his way to his home constituency in Baramati to participate in election-related events for the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections. His twin-engine Learjet 45, registered VT-SSK, took off from Mumbai shortly after 8 a.m. on Wednesday and was attempting to land at Baramati around 8:45 a.m. when it crash-landed near the runway and burst into flames, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).