'Ajit Dada come back...': Pall of gloom descends in Baramati

MUMBAI, DHNS: ‘Ajit Dada amar rahe, amar rahe’, ‘Ajit Dada parat ya, parat ya (Long live Ajit Dada, come back Ajit Dada)’ rent the air as a pall of gloom descended in Baramati because of the untimely demise of Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President Ajit Pawar leaving people wailing and in tears.

For people of Baramati in Pune district, Dada, as he was popularly known was an icon - as he led the transformation of the tehsil under the mentorship of Sharad Pawar, who is known as Saheb. 

In Baramati, politics means Pawars and Pawars means politics, however, the Saheb vs Dada fight had affected them. Even while they were reconciling, the death of Ajit Pawar has come as a shocker to them.

“We are devastated…there are no words. We have never thought that this could ever happen to Dada and Baramati,” a close aide of Ajit Pawar told DH from Baramati hours after the plane crash on Wednesday. 

Ajit Pawar has won nine elections from Baramati - one Lok Sabha and eight Vidhan Sabha - by handsome margins. 

“I am numb. I do not have any words to express. It is shocking and devastating for Baramati,” a local leader said. 

Ajit Pawar’s body was taken to the Ahilyabai Hospital in Baramati where a large crowd assembled to take a glimpse of their departed leader and some people hoping that he was just injured and will return. 

The body was taken to the Vidya Pratishthan  complex, a family-owned  educational hub.

The last rites would be performed on Tuesday at the Vidya Pratisthan ground. 

NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar and his wife Pratibha Patil rushed to Baramati as soon as they heard about their nephew’s death in the plane crash. As soon as Pawar landed at the Baramati Airport from the helicopter, his aides briefed him about the details of the accident.

Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar and cousin Supriya Sule, who were in New Delhi for the budget session of the Parliament, airdashed to Pune while his sons Parth and Jay too rushed to their hometown. 

Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde rushed to Baramati and spoke to the Pawar family members and consoled them.

Fadnavis also briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Maratha leader Manoj Jarange-Patil too rushed to Baramati and paid respects to the departed leader.