Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Sunetra Pawar on Thursday urged Opposition leaders not to politicise the death of her husband Ajit Pawar, a day after NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule questioned why no FIR had been registered in connection with the plane crash that killed the former deputy chief minister.
Ajit Pawar and four others were killed when their aircraft crashed near Baramati airport on January 28. Responding to Sule’s remarks, Sunetra said no one could understand the family’s grief better than Ajit Pawar’s mother, children and herself. “The void created in Maharashtra due to the loss of respected Ajit Dada is immense. Who can understand the pain better than his mother, his children and me? Therefore, do not politicise Ajit Dada’s accident,” she told reporters.
‘We also want answers’
Sunetra said the family also wanted the investigation to reach a concrete conclusion and had been making efforts towards that end. She pointed out that the family had already met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the matter. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, she added, had also given an assurance in the state Assembly and was making efforts to fulfil it.
Expressing faith in the investigation, Sunetra said agencies should be allowed sufficient time to complete their work. She also questioned whether repeated public discussion of the investigation was turning into a “media trial”, arguing that appearing before the media constantly did not necessarily mean that those concerned were receiving updates on the probe. Sunetra reiterated that Ajit Pawar’s family wanted the circumstances surrounding the crash investigated at the earliest, but maintained that the matter should not become a subject of political confrontation.
Sule questions absence of FIR
Her remarks came after Sule on Wednesday questioned the Maharashtra government over the absence of an FIR in connection with Ajit Pawar’s death. Sule contrasted the case with the FIR registered against MNS leader Amit Thackeray for allegedly removing a photograph of Prime Minister Modi from an office wall at a government polytechnic in Pune. “Why no FIR has been registered regarding my brother’s death? We lost a prominent member of our family,” Sule had said. She also targeted leaders of the ruling NCP, pointing out that the party is part of the Maharashtra government and questioning why its legislators and ministers had not publicly demanded an FIR or a proper investigation.
“Have any of their 40 MLAs or eight-nine ministers ever uttered a single word demanding an FIR or a proper investigation into my brother’s death? Our brother is gone, and they are enjoying power,” Sule had said. The exchange has brought the investigation into Ajit Pawar’s fatal crash back into the political spotlight, with Sunetra insisting that the probe must be allowed to proceed without being turned into a political or media battle.