Deputy chief minister of India's Maharashtra dies in plane crash

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The deputy chief minister of India's western state of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, was among six people killed on Wednesday as his charter aircraft went down in flames, television channels said.

Video showed billows of smoke rising from some of the burning wreckage of the plane, scattered across an open field.

Media said Pawar's aircraft, travelling from India's financial capital of Mumbai, tried to make an emergency landing in the state's city of Baramati. He was to attend a public meeting amid ongoing local elections.

The exact cause of the crash, whether it was due to a technical failure or weather conditions, remains unclear.

Locals rushed to the site to assist, with visuals showing the wreckage engulfed in flames. Official statements are awaited to confirm further details of the incident.

Ajit Anantrao Pawar was an Indian politician served as the eighth Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra alongside Eknath Shinde under Devendra Fadnavis from December 2024 until his death in a plane crash. He was the longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, serving non-consecutively. He served in the position for six terms under various governments, including the cabinets of Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray, and Eknath Shinde.

He also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2022 to 2023 and represented Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in 1991.