Baramati/Mumbai: A big truck carrying the mortal stays of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar made its means by the streets of Baramati, full of a big mass of individuals. The truck had a big life-sized picture of Ajit Pawar with a yellow and pink garland round. All of his private workers and bodyguards, who used to tail him all over the place, have been travelling with him this time too, one final time.

On the Vidya Pratishthan floor, the place Pawar’s final rites have been carried out Thursday, not an inch of the bottom’s earthy brown color was seen. The bottom was a sea of individuals, residents of Baramati in addition to followers of Ajit Pawar who had made their solution to Baramati from throughout Maharashtra.

The funeral noticed political personalities of all hues come collectively to share the grief of the Pawar household. Whereas the final rites have been underneath means along with his sons Parth and Jay sitting for the ceremonial features, Nationalist Congress Get together (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, a Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP) chief, and senior Congress chief Sushil Kumar Shinde have been sitting collectively.

Union House Minister Amit Shah travelled to Baramati for the final rites, together with newly-elected BJP nationwide president Nitin Nabin and supplied his condolences to the Pawar household’s political patriarch, Sharad Pawar, earlier than providing floral tributes to the mortal stays of Ajit Pawar and exchanging a number of brief phrases of condolence along with his sons. Shah was accompanied on the dais by the nationwide president of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, Praful Patel.

Politicians reminiscent of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh, Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar, state ministers Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Chhagan Bhujbal and Chandrakant Patil, NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare and Dhananjay Munde, Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, amongst many others, have been additionally current and supplied floral tributes to Pawar’s mortal stays. Actor Ritesh Deshmukh and industrialist Amit Kalyani have been additionally current.

Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, with whom Ajit Pawar had labored as deputy CM within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) authorities, travelled to Baramati Wednesday night time along with his spouse Rashmi and MLA son Aaditya to supply condolences to the Pawar household.

As the group swelled, the organisers saved asking individuals to point out restraint and keep in mind “the one principal Ajit dada lived by, self-discipline”. The general public was heard chanting “Ekach vada (one promise), Ajit dada”, a slogan that had change into synonymous along with his persona, one which conveyed how weighty his guarantees have been thought of.

Ajit Pawar was recognized to solely ever say sure to issues that he might do, and no matter wasn’t in his arms, or wasn’t potential, he would promptly refuse.

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A united Pawar household

Ajit Pawar’s sudden loss of life in an plane crash Wednesday and his funeral Thursday noticed your entire Pawar clan uniting in grief, from the era of Sharad and his brother Prataprao Pawar, to their kids, Ajit Pawar’s brothers and sisters, and even the following era: Parth, Jay, Rohit, amongst others.

Ajit Pawar’s first-born, Parth, carried out the final rites of his father along with his brother Jay on the aspect. A bit earlier than that, Ajit Pawar’s cousin Supriya Sule held his spouse Sunetra Pawar’s hand, main her to the place the place his mortal stays have been saved.

Sunetra, the sister of Padamsinh Patil who was as soon as thought of amongst Sharad Pawar’s closest aides, was married to Ajit Pawar for nearly 4 a long time.

She sprinkled holy water over her husband’s physique and bowed down to the touch his head and ft, and prayed. Sule then took her hand and helped her down the stage. Sule did the identical for Ajit Pawar’s grief-stricken sisters.

Instantly after information about Ajit Pawar’s loss of life unfold, Sule had put up a one-word WhatsApp message: “Devastated”. On Thursday, she shared an official board with a a lot youthful Ajit Pawar’s picture that mentioned: “Member, tenth Lok Sabha, Deputy CM, Maharashtra.”

Ajit Pawar had first entered electoral politics by contesting and successful the Baramati Lok Sabha ballot in 1991, however stepped all the way down to make means for his uncle Sharad the identical yr.

Sule’s standing learn: “It is a very tough time for our household. We’re deeply touched and grateful for all of the love, concern and messages we’ve acquired.”

The Pawar household in Maharashtra’s politics was all the time referred to as very shut knit, with the idea of household bond and self-discipline being very robust. The household had a convention, began by Sharad Pawar’s late mom, that your entire household throughout generations was anticipated to collect at one place and rejoice Diwali.

Uncle Sharad Pawar had been a father determine to Ajit Pawar ever since he misplaced his personal father, Anantrao Pawar, when he was simply out of his teenagers.

Ajit Pawar’s rise up towards the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and his alliance with the Mahayuti had ruptured that household unity. The 2023 rise up was adopted by two bitter electoral battles for the household turf of Baramati. The primary, when Ajit Pawar launched his spouse, Sunetra, to politics, to tackle his cousin, incumbent Baramati MP Supriya Sule.

The battle compelled your entire Pawar clan to select sides, with Ajit Pawar’s sibling, Shrinivas Pawar and his whole household, selecting to marketing campaign for Sule, unwilling to go towards patriarch Sharad Pawar. Sunetra misplaced and was later accommodated within the Rajya Sabha.

Six months later, there was an encore of this battle with Sharad Pawar’s NCP fielding Ajit’s nephew, Yugendra Pawar, to contest towards him within the state legislative meeting polls. Yugendra misplaced the battle because the residents of Baramati determined to take care of the established order within the Lok Sabha in addition to the meeting, unwilling to select sides.

Of late, there was a thaw in relations between the 2 factions of the Pawar household. In August final yr, your entire household, together with Ajit Pawar and Sunetra Pawar, got here collectively to attend Yugendra’s wedding ceremony and even posed for an image collectively.

Ajit Pawar additionally campaigned alongside nephew Rohit Pawar, MLA from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, and Sule for the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal company polls this month that the 2 NCPs contested collectively. In one in every of these rallies, Rohit Pawar hailed Ajit Pawar as “Rocky bhai”, protagonist of the movie KGF.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)

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