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Ajit Pawar
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar was on Thursday unanimously elected as the new national president of the ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) here, nearly a month after her husband Ajit Pawar, who held that position, died in a plane crash. NCP working president Praful Patel made this announcement after the party's national executive committee meeting in Mumbai. He also said that Parth Pawar would be nominated to the Rajya Sabha seat, which fell vacant after his mother Sunetra Pawar resigned and became the state deputy CM. In June 2024, Sunetra Pawar was elected unopposed as a Rajya Sabha member from the NCP following her defeat in the Lok Sabha election prior to that. After her husband Ajit Pawar's death on January 28 in Baramati, she resigned as a member of the Upper House of Parliament, and was sworn in as Maharashtra deputy CM.
The Maharashtra government has requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to order a CBI investigation into the plane crash that killed Deputy CM Ajit Pawar last month, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said. The Mahayuti government will ensure that all doubts regarding the plane crash are cleared, Fadnavis said at a press conference on Sunday on the eve of the budget session of the Maharashtra legislature. "I had received a letter from the NCP (an ally of the BJP) seeking a CBI probe into the air crash and spoke with Home Minister Amit Shah. Along with investigations by DGCA and state CID, there will be a probe by the CBI," he added. Ajit Pawar and four others onboard a chartered plane were killed when it crashed while attempting to land near Baramati in Pune district on January 28. The late NCP chief's nephew and NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar has raised several allegations regarding the plane crash circumstances and suspected foul play. On Saturday, Rohit Pawar wrote to Prime Mini
The preliminary report on the plane crash in which NCP leader Ajit Pawar was killed will be out on or before February 28, Union minister of state for civil aviation and Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol said on Sunday. Pawar and four others were killed on January 28 after their Learjet 45 crashed some distance away from Baramati airport. Talking to reporters at an event here, Mohol said, "The preliminary report will be out before one month (from the day of the incident) on or before February 28." The incident has been the subject of intense speculation with NCP (SP) MLA and Pawar's nephew Rohit Pawar holding several press conferences to flag what he claimed were irregularities connected to the firm that owned the aircraft and other technical anomalies. He has also raised doubts about foul play. On Saturday, the Karjat-Jamkhed MLA wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that Civil Aviation minister K Ram Mohan Naidu be asked to resign from the Union government till the inquiry into th
The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Thursday said AAIB will issue a preliminary report on the probe into the Learjet 45 plane crash near Baramati last month, emphasising that all investigative actions are being taken with full transparency and professional integrity. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Ajit Pawar and four others were killed in the crash on January 28. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said specialised support has been sought for the retrieval of data from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the VSR Ventures-owned Learjet 45 plane. Amid concerns raised in certain quarters about the operator, crash and the ongoing probe, the ministry said the "AAIB's investigation is technical and evidence-based, involving systematic examination of wreckage, operational and maintenance records and laboratory testing of components where required". A preliminary report will be issued within 30 days of the occurrence, as per ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) norms, and
Jay Pawar, the younger son of Ajit Pawar, has demanded a thorough probe into the "possible serious lapses" behind the air crash that claimed his father's life, and stressed that an aircraft's black box cannot get destroyed easily. He also sought a ban on VSR Ventures Private Limited, the aviation company that operated the ill-fated Learjet 45XR plane which crashed near the Baramati airstrip in Pune district, killing Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others on January 28. "The black box cannot get destroyed easily. The people of Maharashtra have the right to know the transparent and whole truth of the crash," Jay Pawar said in a social media post on Wednesday. Seeking a ban on VSR aviation firm, he said, "A detailed investigation of possible serious lapses and irregularities of the aircraft firm should be done in a detailed and impartial manner." His statement comes a day after Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar and leaders from the NCP met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded
A four-member team of senior DGCA officials has visited the site of the plane crash that killed Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others last month near Baramati in Pune district. During their visit on Wednesday, they reviewed the CCTV camera footage and videos linked to the January 28 incident, said local officials. Ajit Pawar, Captain Sumit Kapoor, co-pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav, and flight attendant Pinky Mali were killed when the Learjet aircraft they were on board crashed near the Baramati airport in Pune district. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation after the death of Pawar and four others after the plane crash, Baramati has an 'uncontrolled airfield' (one without a dedicated Air Traffic Control), and traffic information is provided by instructors/pilots from the local flying training organisations. Union Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu had said the investigation into the plane cras
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on Tuesday assumed her ministerial duties at the state secretariat Mantralaya, 13 days after the death of her husband and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. She was accompanied by senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders and her elder son Parth Pawar as she took her seat in the deputy CM's office, marking a poignant transition in the state's leadership. NCP leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dhananjay Munde were among those present. Sunetra Pawar will attend the cabinet meeting scheduled on Tuesday, the first to be held since Ajit Pawar's death. She will also participate in the business advisory committee meeting for the February 23 budget session. NCP leader Ajit Pawar was killed in a plane crash at Baramati in Pune district on January 28. Sunetra Pawar took oath as the state's first woman deputy CM on January 31. She has been given the charge of the exicse, sports, minority welfare and Aukaf departments and also ..
A firm of Parth Pawar, son of late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, has appealed against the notice issued by the Maharashtra registration department asking to pay stamp duty of Rs 21 crore pertaining to the sale deed of Mundhwa land by February 10, sources said. The department, in an earlier order, had asked Amadea Enterprises LLP and its partner, Digvijay Patil, to pay the stamp duty, which was waived during the execution of the sale deed for 40-acre government land, by February 10. "The deadline to pay the stamp duty was February. The firm has filed an appeal challenging the order. Now there will be a hearing before the Inspector General Registration (IGR)," said a senior official from the department on Monday. The official, however, did not elaborate on the grounds for challenging the original order seeking Rs 21 crore. Asked what action can be initiated if the stamp duty is not paid, he said that there are set procedures, such as 'revenue recovery', which involves bank account seizure an
NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar left for Mumbai from Baramati on Sunday morning, four days after the air crash that claimed the life of his nephew and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. NCP leader Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar, who took oath as deputy CM in Mumbai on Saturday, returned to Baramati in Pune, the hometown of the Pawars, late at night. It was unclear whether Sharad Pawar and Sunetra Pawar met or spoke over the phone amid the latest political developments and talks about the merger of the two NCP factions. Sharad Pawar has no scheduled programmes in Mumbai. His daughter and Baramati Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule left for Delhi on Saturday to attend the budget session. The NCP (SP) chief on Saturday claimed that he had "no idea" about the swearing-in of Sunetra Pawar as deputy chief minister, and said his late nephew had finalised February 12 to announce a merger between the NCP factions. He also said the process to merge the NCP (SP) and NCP may now face
NCP (SP) Maharashtra president Shashikant Shinde has claimed his party chief Sharad Pawar and other leaders had no prior knowledge about NCP leader Sunetra Pawar's swearing-in as the state's Deputy Chief Minister. He also said that after the recent civic elections in the state, a decision was made to pursue the unification of the two parties. Sunetra Pawar (62), wife of Ajit Pawar who died in a plane crash in Pune's Baramati town on January 28, was on Saturday sworn in as the first woman deputy CM of Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar did not have prior knowledge about her swearing-in, Shinde told reporters on Saturday. "There had been discussions and meetings on the two NCPs coming together. But Ajitdada is no more. Some broad positions had been discussed earlier. Now, we will discuss what needs to be done and then make a decision. How others respond is their call," he said. On questions over the apparent haste in conducting Sunetra Pawar's swearing-in ceremony, Shinde said the answers sh
Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra on Saturday, three days after the death of her husband and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. She is set to take oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of the state later in the day. Sunetra Pawar's name as the NCP's legislature party leader was proposed by senior leader Dilip Walse Patil and seconded by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal. She was elected during a meeting of the party's legislature wing, held at the office of late Ajit Pawar on the ground floor of the Vidhan Bhavan complex in south Mumbai. Ajit Pawar, who was deputy chief minister and finance minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government, was killed in a plane crash in Baramati along with four others on January 28. Sunetra Pawar paid floral tributes to a portrait of her late husband in the meeting hall. Their younger son Jay was also present. Many ministers and legisla
The process to merge the NCP (SP) and NCP may now face a roadblock due to the death of Ajit Pawar, said Sharad Pawar on Saturday. Nationalist Congress Party chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was killed along with four others after a Learjet 45 aircraft they were travelling in crashed at Baramati, his hometown here, on January 28. The process to merge the two factions was underway for the past four months under Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil, the NCP (SP) chief told reporters in Baramati. "All discussions were held at their level, but it now appears the process may hit a roadblock following the (plane) accident. The talks were progressing in a positive direction, but the accident adversely affected the process," the former Union minister said. Efforts were being made to establish cordial dialogue between the two factions, he added. Asked whether the merger process would continue, Sharad Pawar said he did not know as he was not part of these discussions. "It was A
Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said he did not expect the merger of two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions - each headed by Ajit Pawar, who was killed in a plane crash two days ago, and his uncle Sharad Pawar. He said that the NCP, as part of the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra, has performed very well. "I personally do not see that will happen," he told PTI in an interview when asked his views on the talks of the merger of the two NCP factions. Goyal said that the NCP leadership "was with Ajit Pawar and now with Sunetra Pawar Ji". He added that Praful Patel has been appointed as the national president of the Nationalist Congress Party. "I don't see Mr Sharad Pawar being invited to join the NCP, given that he has lost the people's trust and the vote," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended his best wishes to Sunetra Pawar, who became the first woman deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. "Best wishes to Sunetra Pawar Ji as she begins her tenure as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the first woman to hold this responsibility," Modi said in a post on X. "I am confident she will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people of the state and fulfil the vision of the late Ajitdada Pawar," the prime minister said. Ajit Pawar died in an air crash in Baramati on January 28. He was the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and the NCP president. On Saturday, Sunetra Pawar was elected as the leader of the NCP Legislature Party. She was administered an oath of office and secrecy as a minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat and was designated the deputy chief minister.
Amid reports that Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar, will be sworn in as the Maharashtra deputy chief minister, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday distanced himself from the development, claiming he had no idea about it. Addressing a press conference in Baramati, Pawar said that he had found out about the swearing-in through media reports. "We don't know about the swearing-in. We got to know about it through the news. I have no idea about the swearing-in," he said, when asked if anyone from the Pawar family would be attending the ceremony. He said the NCP must have made the decision. "Some people like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare took the initiative. These people might have decided something," he said. The veteran leader further claimed that it was his late nephew Ajit Pawar's wish to unite both factions, and that they were optimistic about it. "Now we feel his wish should be fulfilled. Ajit Pawar, Shashikant Shinde and Jayant Patil had initiated the talks about the merger