The last rites of Nationalist Congress Party President and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, were performed this morning with full state honours at Vidya Pratishthan Ground, Baramati, in Pune. His sons, Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar, performed the last rites by lighting the funeral pyre. Several senior leaders from the Centre and the State attended the last rites.

Members of the Ajit Pawar family, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister of State Ramdas Athawale, Union Ministers of State Prataprao Jadhav and Murlidhar Mohol, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, former Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, along with members of the Council of Ministers, Members of Parliament, and Members of the Legislative Assembly, paid their tributes. A police contingent presented a salute and accorded the guard of honour.

Following Ajit Pawar’s demise, the Maharashtra Government has announced three days of state mourning. Accordingly, all schools and government offices in the state will remain closed until tomorrow. National flags have been lowered to half-mast on government buildings, and all public programmes have been postponed.

Ajit Pawar, along with five others, was killed in a plane crash near Baramati Airport in Pune district yesterday. The accident occurred while the aircraft was preparing to land.

The sudden demise of 66-year-old Ajit Pawar has created a major political vacuum in the BJP-led alliance government in Maharashtra. Discussions have also intensified regarding the future leadership of the Nationalist Congress Party.