Ajit Pawar Dies in Plane Crash: A Look at Leaders Lost in Aviation Accidents

New Delhi: Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar tragically lost his life in a plane crash in Baramati earlier today. The aircraft crashed during landing, marking yet another somber chapter in India’s history of aviation accidents claiming prominent leaders.

Over the years, several top politicians and officials have perished in plane or helicopter crashes. Here’s a look at some of the notable figures India has lost in such tragedies:

• Vijay Rupani (Gujarat) – The former Chief Minister of Gujarat died on 12 June 2025 in an Air India crash near Ahmedabad. The plane was carrying 242 passengers, of whom only one survived.
• G.M.C. Balayogi (Telugu Desam Party) – The Lok Sabha Speaker passed away on 3 March 2002 when his helicopter crashed into a pond near Kaikalur, Andhra Pradesh, while returning from Bhimavaram.
• Om Prakash Jindal & Surendra Singh (Haryana) – In 2005, the industrialist and Haryana minister Om Prakash Jindal, along with Agriculture Minister Surendra Singh, died when their helicopter crashed near Saharanpur while traveling from Delhi to Chandigarh.
• Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (Andhra Pradesh) – The then Chief Minister, popularly known as YSR, died on 2 September 2009 in a helicopter crash.
• Sanjay Gandhi (Congress) – The son of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, died on 23 June 1980 in an aircraft accident near Delhi while piloting a plane from the Delhi Flying Club.
• Madhavrao Scindia (Congress) – The senior Congress leader died on 30 September 2001 in a private 10-seater aircraft crash near Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, due to adverse weather while traveling to Kanpur.
• CDS General Bipin Rawat (India) – India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, died on 8 December 2021 in a helicopter crash near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, along with his wife and 11 others.

Ajit Pawar’s untimely death adds to this grim list of prominent Indian leaders whose lives were cut short by aviation accidents, reminding the nation of the risks that public servants face while serving the country.