Ajit Pawar granted Rediff an interview in Baramati at 6 am. Why? 'To be a successful politician one needs to sleep less, and I never sleep for more than 4 hours' Ajit Pawar told Syed Firdaus Ashraf as Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff captured the encounter on his camera.
Thousands of supporters gathered to pay their last respects, chanting slogans in his memory. The large turnout and emotional farewell highlighted Ajit Pawar's strong grassroots connect and his significant influence in Maharashtra politics.
Ajit Pawar became a ray of hope for Muslims, the only man in power who could resolve their grievances.
With Ajit Pawar's passing, the 40 MLAs who remain will now have to decide whether they want to continue in Mahayuti in the company of the BJP and Shiv Sena -- or return to the Sharad Pawar fold.
Popularly known as 'Ajit Dada', he was known to say things as they were, without couching it in any soft padding.
Ajit's uncle and NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, however, has urged people not to politicise the death of his nephew.
Despite forging an alliance with the faction led by his uncle, Nationalist Congress Party chief and Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday failed to protect the party's traditional bastions of Pune and neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad, as the Bharatiya Janata Party decimated both the NCPs in the municipal corporation elections.
The talks about the reunification had already started when Ajit Pawar was alive. In fact, the two parties even contested the civic polls in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together.
Speculation about the NCP merger arose after Ajit Pawar's death, with conflicting claims about the status of the talks.
The death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has created a leadership crisis within the NCP, raising questions about the party's future and potential reunification with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash, were held with full state honors in Baramati. Prominent leaders and thousands of mourners attended the funeral.
Jay Pawar, son of the late Ajit Pawar, is seeking a thorough investigation into the plane crash that killed his father, citing possible serious lapses and demanding a ban on the aviation company involved.
Rohit Pawar highlighted the atmosphere of suspicion, grief, and political intrigue currently surrounding these events in Maharashtra. He mentioned an investigation into the accident, citing a book that suggests killing a person's driver is an easy way to target them.
NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar has raised doubts about the circumstances surrounding the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash and plans to provide a detailed presentation on the matter.
Eyewitnesses identified Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar at the site of a plane crash in Pune district by his wristwatch. The crash of the Learjet resulted in multiple fatalities, including the pilot, co-pilot, PSO, and flight attendant. An investigation is underway.
Ajit Pawar and four other persons on board a chartered aircraft were killed when it crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of a tabletop runway at Baramati airport in Pune district on January 28.
Ajit Pawar and four others were killed when the chartered plane carrying them crashed in Baramati in Pune district on Wednesday.
The Learjet 45XR aircraft, which was carrying Ajit Pawar and four others from Mumbai, crashed near Baramati airport at 8.48 am on Wednesday.
Visuals from the spot showed mangled remains of the aircraft.
Ajit Pawar, 66, and four other persons were killed after an aircraft carrying them crashed in Maharashtra's Pune district on Wednesday morning
The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash, will be held with full state honors in Baramati. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to attend.
The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash, will be held with full state honors in Baramati. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to attend the funeral.
A flight attendant from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, was among those killed in a plane crash that also claimed the life of an NCP leader and three others. The news has brought deep mourning to her native village.
A senior Maharashtra government official has been removed from his post following allegations of irregularities in granting minority status to 75 educational institutions after the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the matter.
An aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others crash landed at Baramati airport, killing all five persons on board. A DGCA team is investigating the crash.
The last rites of Vidip Jadhav, the Personal Security Officer to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in the Baramati plane crash, were performed in Satara district.
Mumbai Cricket Association president Ajinkya Naik hailed Ajit Pawar for taking firm stands to help the association
'Deeply shocked and terribly heartbroken to learn that we have lost Ajit Dada in a tragic accident.'
Police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others in Baramati. The case will be handed over to the Maharashtra CID for investigation following the AAIB's inquiry.
An ambulance driver recounts the tragic irony of driving the ambulance secured by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to carry his body after a fatal plane crash.
A senior official told PTI that the AAIB will be visiting the crash site and it will be investigating the accident.
A look back at Ajit Pawar's visit to Gulmandi market in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where he sampled local snacks and interacted with shopkeepers.
The Learjet 45 (LJ45), a mid-size business jet aircraft produced by the Learjet Division of Bombardier Aerospace, went off the runway while attempting to land at Baramati airport and burst into flames.
The Nationalist Congress Party, led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, headed by his uncle Sharad Pawar, on Saturday released a joint manifesto for the upcoming elections to the Pune municipal corporation.
'The writing is on the wall for both Shinde and Ajit Pawar.'
A close associate of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar claims that Pawar was actively pursuing a merger of the two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions before his death. The associate, Kiran Gujar, stated that Pawar had indicated the merger was imminent just days before a fatal plane crash.
The co-pilot of the aircraft that crashed carrying Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar sent a 'good morning' message to her grandmother before takeoff, which turned out to be her last communication.
After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that the truth would not emerge through existing mechanisms and called for a probe, several opposition leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge backed her demand.
Ajit Pawar and four others on board died after the chartered plane crashed.
The Black Box of the Learjet 45 aircraft that crashed near the Baramati airstrip on Wednesday has been recovered, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.