'While many politicians speak of development, Dada worked hard for it.' 'He realised that politics wasn't about power or politics -- it was about service to the people.'
Ajit Pawar, who was the finance and planning minister, would have tabled his budget for 2026-27 next month when the state legislature's budget session begins in Mumbai on February 23.
Pinky Mali was an attendant on the Learjet 46, operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures, that crash-landed at the Baramati airport
'Because of him, we learned how to work for people, how to take responsibility, and how to stand by our decisions.'
'Deeply shocked and terribly heartbroken to learn that we have lost Ajit Dada in a tragic accident.'
Ajit's uncle and NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, however, has urged people not to politicise the death of his nephew.
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.
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.
Popularly known as 'Ajit Dada', he was known to say things as they were, without couching it in any soft padding.
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.
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.
Mumbai Cricket Association president Ajinkya Naik hailed Ajit Pawar for taking firm stands to help the association
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.
'I do not know why he went to Delhi because I have not been in touch with him for months now and I would not be able to give an answer why he visited Delhi'
'I don't know if she is doing it willingly or not, but she is respecting the sentiments of the party.'
NCP MP Sunil Tatkare's remarks came amid the suspense over a merger of the two NCP factions
'The entire Pawar family -- Sunetra Vahini, Jay and Parth Pawar (Ajit Pawar's sons), Sharad Pawar, his daughter Supriya Sule -- will sit together and decide how to move forward.'
Maharashtra minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar should refrain from criticising the saffron outfit and not force it to open 'pages from the past'.
Senior NCP leader Hasan Mushrif admitted that Ajit Pawar was holding talks with NCP (SP) leaders on the merger of the two factions before his death.
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.
Ajit Pawar and four others were killed when the chartered plane carrying them crashed in Baramati in Pune district on Wednesday.
Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan criticized Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's allegations of corruption in the Pimpri Chinchwad civic body, suggesting they are politically motivated ahead of upcoming elections.
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.
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.
Maharashtra's political leaders, led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, paid tribute to the late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar during the state legislature's budget session, remembering him as a capable leader and administrator.
The legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra will hold a meeting in Mumbai on January 31, where Deputy Chief Minister late Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra is set to be named as its leader, state minister Chhagan Bhujbal said on Friday.
A video of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar recounting a tense helicopter ride with Devendra Fadnavis in July 2024 has resurfaced after Pawar's death in a plane crash. Pawar humorously described his fear during the flight due to bad weather, while Fadnavis remained calm.
Sunetra Pawar, widow of late Ajit Pawar, is set to be sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister, replacing her husband in the state cabinet. Her appointment follows a meeting of the NCP legislature wing where she is expected to be named as its leader.
Sunetra Pawar, who is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature, will be elected as leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday, after which she is likely to take oath as deputy CM.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar Maharashtra unit president Shashikant Shinde on Saturday said his party chief Sharad Pawar and other leaders had no prior knowledge about the decision that Nationalist Congress Party's Sunetra Pawar would take oath as the state deputy chief minister.
It isn't easy for a girl from Gopal Nagar to chase a dream. But Pinky was extremely determined. A force unto herself, she was going to go places. Literally. Till it abruptly ended one morning on the tarmac at Baramati airport.
A video has surfaced of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar purportedly chiding a woman IPS officer who was taking action against illegal excavation of 'murrum' soil in Solapur district. NCP claims Pawar didn't intend to stop the action but might have berated the officer to placate party workers.
Several ministers within Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti alliance have voiced criticism regarding Sunetra Pawar's appointment as Deputy Chief Minister shortly after her husband, Ajit Pawar's, death, leading to disapproval from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The press conference of the Mahayuti allies in Mumbai after they staked claim to form government in Maharashtra witnessed some banter thanks to Ajit Pawar, a 'veteran' deputy chief minister.
Newly-appointed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has been allocated the portfolios of State Excise Duty, Sports and Youth Affairs and Minorities Development and Aukaf.
'A poor candidate was given a chance so that the concerns of ordinary, needy citizens could be represented.'
Nationalist Congress Party considers Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, for the position of NCP legislature leader, emphasizing the importance of family consent in the decision-making process.
'If all of us (all the 57 Shiv Sena MLAs) stand together we can change the dynamic. We are not afraid of anyone.'
Twelve newly-elected councillors in the Ambernath Municipal Council, suspended by the Congress for joining a post-poll front led by the BJP, have formally joined the saffron party. The Congress criticized the BJP, highlighting the hypocrisy of welcoming defectors despite the Chief Minister's disapproval of the alliance.
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