The Editorial Page: Opposition within: Ajit Pawar-shaped hole in Maharashtra politics 10 THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2026 journAlism of CourAge KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ₹6.00 (₹12 in North East states, ₹20 in Andaman) l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A Business as Usual By EP UNNY Happening today PLANE CRASHED wHILE TRYING TO LAND IN BARAMATI; LAST RITES TODAY Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra’s Dy CM, killed in plane crash Minutesbefore crash:Failed landingbid, visibilityissues —andsilence Pilot, co-pilot, flight attendant, PSO among others killed lHOME MINISTER Amit Shah to begin two-day visit to Assam. He will lay the foundation stone for the second complex of the State Assembly in Dibrugarh. lUKRAINE’S ELINA SVITO- LINA takes on World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus in the first women's singles semi-final of the Australian Open. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Ajit Pawar with his PSO Vidip Jadhav on the flight { Ajit PAwAr } Sukalp Sharma 1959-2026 Alok Deshpande, Manoj More, Sushant Kulkarni & Vallabh Ozarkar Mumbai, Pune, January 28 MAHARASHTRA DEPUTY Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar died on Wednesday morning after a chartered aircraft carrying him and four others crashed while attempting to land at Baramati airport. AccordingtotheDirectorate »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 New Delhi, January28 At the site in Baramati where the Learjet 45 crashed, killing Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others on Wednesday. ARUL HORIzON MORE REPORTS , PAGES 6, 7 l The26minutesbeforethecrash 8.18 am: Aircraft “first came in contact with Baramati” Next call “at 30 nautical miles inbound to Baramati”; advised to descend Pilots approached airport, decided against landing as runway not in sight Executed a “go-around” to try and land again 8.43 am: Cleared to land, met with silence 8.44 am: Flames from crashed plane spotted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Mumbai Baramati Airport Pune THE CHARTERED plane that wascarryingMaharashtraDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was airborne for around 35 minutes before crashing and killing all five people on board. The aircraft was a BombardierLearjet45,registeredasVTSSK and operated by Delhibasedprivatejetcharteroperator VSR Ventures (VSR Aviation). It took off from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at around 8:10 am and was headed to Baramati. While the Aircraft Accident »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata ‘It’s over, what is left... Baramati has been orphaned’ Sunanda Mehta Baramati, January 28 ATLEASTanhourbeforeBaramati, the air started to feel heavy. It was 2 pm. The usually bustling Pune-Solapur highway, lined with shops and eateries, was desolate. And silent. At Urulikanchan, however, a massive black-and-white billboard bearing the photograph of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar spoke volumes — about the devastating crash that stunnedthenationonWednesday morning and plunged Baramati, land of the Pawars, into deep gloom. As you turned off the high- Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar in Baramati. ARUL HORIzON way towards Baramati, and passed nearly 35 km of wide, freshly painted roads, rarely seen even in major cities and divided by rows of pink »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Breaking free of uncle’s shadow, Ajit Pawar forged his own path Zeeshan Shaikh, Shubhangi Khapre, Alok Deshpande & Ajay Jadhav Mumbai, Pune, January 28 AJIT PAWAR’S political career unfolded in the towering presence of his uncle, Sharad Pawar, but was driven by a constantdesiretoestablishhisown identity. The son of Nationalist CongressParty(NCP)founder’s elderbrotherAnantrao,theMaharashtra Deputy Chief Minister,whodiedinanaircrashin What next E. for NCP PAGE 7 his home turf of Baramati, rose through the cooperative sector and entered public life under his uncle’s mentorship. Ajit’s political tutelage, having been born in 1959, began quite early. He once spoke of how, when he was in high school, he would often walk aroundthehouseservingteato people arriving to meet his »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2