Mumbai: Less than a week after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash, opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, have questioned the circumstances of the incident, alleging possible foul play and demanding an independent investigation. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dismissed the allegations as misleading.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Raut described the death as “mysterious”. He alleged that Pawar had threatened to expose alleged corruption involving the BJP just days before his death. Raut later raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha as well.
“Ajit Pawar warned that he would expose a file related to corruption by the BJP. Within 10-15 days, he died in an air crash. This is mysterious,” Raut said. He was referring to remarks Pawar had made while campaigning for the local body elections, in which he alleged that the costs of certain irrigation projects were deliberately inflated to generate funds for the ruling parties and officials during the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the late 1990s.
Raul also said that Pawar’s death reminds him of how justice BH Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, died in December 2014. Justice Loya’s death became a major controversy when his family alleged he had been offered a ₹100 crore bribe to deliver a “favourable” verdict in the politically sensitive case. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the death was due to natural causes.
Opposition leaders also raised questions about aircraft maintenance and an alleged last-minute change in the pilot assigned to the chartered flight carrying Pawar. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said, “Daal mein kuch kaala hai. (There’s something fishy). The question remains as to why the pilot was changed at the eleventh hour. The pilot whose name was originally listed is still alive because he either couldn’t arrive on time or was replaced by another pilot named [Sumit] Kapoor.” Wadettiwar demanded an investigation to throw light on the “mystery behind the incident”.
Kapoor was the pilot-in-command on the Learjet 45 plane that crashed in Baramati on January 28, killing him, Pawar, Pawar’s security officer Vidip Jadhav, first officer Captain Shambhavi Pathak and flight attendant Pinky Mali. According to reports, the pilots originally assigned to the chartered flight were unable to reach the airport on time due to heavy traffic. Kapoor, an experienced pilot, was then reportedly asked to step in hours before the flight was scheduled to depart from Mumbai to Baramati.
Suspicion was also voiced from within Pawar’s own party. Amol Mitkari, an NCP legislator, questioned how documents were not destroyed in the crash when all the people on board had burnt and died. “I am certain that this was not an accident, and that Ajit dada was 100% betrayed. For that reason, I will continue this fight as long as I am alive. Following Dada’s passing, I have decided to dedicate my personal life to the loyalty of his family,” said Mitkari.
BJP leaders, however, refuted the allegations. BJP MP and advocate Ujjwal Nikam said that Raut’s statements were misleading, and added that it was clear from the investigation that justice Loya’s death was due to a heart attack. BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban said, “There will be a detailed investigation of the air accident, and Raut can even go to the international court against the BJP if he wants.”