The Editorial Page: Opposition within: Ajit Pawar-shaped hole in Maharashtra politics 8 THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2026 journAlism of CourAge AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES ₹5.00 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 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 E. What next for NCP PAGE 15 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 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 15, 12 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 Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel felicitates Mir Haji Kasam during a function in Junagadh on Wednesday. EXPRESS From SIR ‘suspect’ voter to CM honoree: Before & after of a Padma Shri in Gujarat Kamal Saiyed Surat, January 28 THESE WOULD count as among the most eventful 15 days in the life of Mir Haji Kasam a.k.a Haji Ramakdu a.k.a Haji Rathod. On January 13, BJP Junagadh Municipal Corporation member Sanjay Manvar filed an objection to the inclusion of Kasam’s name in the voter rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state. On January 25, the eve of Republic Day, Kasam, a noted dholak player, was announced as one of this year’s »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad