NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule arrived in Baramati on Wednesday afternoon along with Sunetra Pawar, the wife of late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, just hours after the fatal plane crash. Ajit Pawar was killed when the Bombardier Learjet 45 he was travelling in crashed at around 8.30 am while attempting to land at Baramati airport after taking off from Mumbai.
The aircraft, operated by VSR Aviation, went down in an open field near the airstrip. All five people on board, including Pawar, lost their lives.
Pawar family in tears
Baramati, the Pawar family’s political stronghold for decades, slipped into mourning as devastating visuals emerged from Baramati Medical College, where family members gathered. Supriya Sule, Pawar’s cousin and a MP from Baramati, was seen breaking down as she met relatives and close associates.
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A video showed Vitthal Sheth Maniyar, a longtime friend of Sharad Pawar, was inconsolable while meeting the family. Sule can be seen hugging him and saying “sabka ladla chala gaya”, as she broke down in tears.
The video further showed Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra also breaking down in tears while meetig the family members.
🚨MP Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, and son Parth Pawar reached Baramati.
Overcome with grief, Supriya Sule said, “Sabka ladla chala gaya”, as she broke down remembering her brother. pic.twitter.com/OIhCTSUyJJ
— Janta Journal (@JantaJournal) January 28, 2026 Pawar family dynamics
The tragedy has also reopened memories of the deep political rupture within the Pawar family in 2023. Ajit Pawar enginnered split in the Nationalist Congress Party and aligned with the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance two years ago while ending decades of association with his uncle Sharad Pawar.
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At the time, political observers saw the rise of Supriya Sule as a national face of the party as one of the fault lines behind the break. Yet, even at the height of that political battle, Sule had insisted that family ties remained untouched. “Relationships shouldn’t come in between politics. The fight is ideological, not personal,” she had said.
In the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Baramati had emerged as a high-profile contest after Ajit Pawar fielded his wife against his cousin. Sule registered a decisive win, defeating her sister-in-law by a margin of more than 1.5 lakh votes.
However, in recent municipal elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, both Pawar factions had fought together. |
