Avoid politicisation of Ajit Pawar's death, urge Maharashtra BJP ministers

Mumbai, Feb 2 (PTI) Maharashtra BJP ministers on Monday urged Opposition parties not to politicise the tragic death of former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in Pune district and said a probe into the tragedy was underway and people should wait for its outcome.

Their appeal came in the wake of certain remarks made by Opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, over the death of Ajit Pawar on January 28 in the air crash at the Baramti airport.

Speaking to reporters here, water resources minister Girish Mahajan said, "The entire state is mourning the death of Ajit Pawar. Why is the Opposition talking about Pawar possessing some files and linking them with his accident? What are they trying to imply? He emphasised that the Opposition should avoid politicising the accidental death of Pawar, who headed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a constituent of the ruling alliance Mahayuti led by the BJP.

Talking to reporters in Nagpur, another BJP minister, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, pointed out that the black box of the ill-fated plane, has been recovered and details stored in it were being analysed as part of an ongoing probe.

"Once the analysis of the black box details is completed, it will clear the air (on the crash). People will come to know reasons behind the accident," he maintained.

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Raut said in New Delhi Ajit Pawar died just days after his revelation that he had a file on BJP's "scam" and asserted the chain of events was "mysterious".

The Rajya Sabha MP also claimed Ajit Pawar had decided to sever ties with the BJP and rejoin his uncle and NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar.

"Ajit Pawar was constantly saying that he has a file of the BJP's scam and he will make a revelation of this. He said this on January 15 and he died in an accident in the next 10 days. This is mysterious. A person like Ajit Pawar sits in an aircraft and there is no other important person in the aircraft, there is no OSD (officer on special duty). There is no maintenance certificate," Raut claimed.

During campaigning for civic body elections, Pawar had claimed he had a file of BJP's corruption when it was in power in the state between 1995 and 1999 along with the undivided Shiv Sena.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader said Vijay Wadettiwar said doubts have been raised in regard to the air crash and reiterated his demand for an impartial inquiry into the tragedy. PTI ND RSY