Persistent Transit Risks Continue Taking Heavy Toll on Leadership
Today marks yet another dark chapter in India’s history. With the shocking demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash earlier today, the nation is once again forced to confront the perilous risks that often accompany public service and high-profile transit. This latest tragedy is not an isolated incident but the fifteenth in a heartbreaking lineage of disasters that have claimed presidents, army generals, union ministers, and promising leaders over the last six decades.
From the hills of Poonch in 1963 to the runway at Baramati in 2026, transportation accidents—both in the air and on the road—have repeatedly altered India’s political and military landscape.
The Latest Blow: Ajit Pawar (2026) Breaking news confirms that NCP chief Ajit Pawar lost his life today, January 28, 2026, when his chartered Learjet 45 crashed while attempting to land. The aircraft tragically veered off the runway at Baramati airport and caught fire, killing all occupants instantly.
Recent Losses: Rupani and Lt. Gen. Mann (2025-2026) Just weeks before today’s tragedy, retired Lt. General Kulwant Singh Mann was killed in a hit-and-run incident on January 11, 2026. A speeding vehicle struck the veteran officer during his evening walk in Panchkula. In the previous year, on June 12, 2025, former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani became a casualty of the Air India Flight 171 disaster. The Boeing 787 he was traveling in stalled due to a dual engine fuel cutoff and crashed into a college building shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad.
A National Tragedy: General Bipin Rawat (2021) The wounds are still fresh from December 8, 2021, when India lost its first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat. His Mi-17V5 helicopter crashed near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, due to sudden cloud cover causing pilot disorientation. The crash claimed the lives of General Rawat, his wife Madhulika, and 12 staff members.
Political Vacuums Caused by Crashes (2000-2014) The turn of the millennium saw a spate of high-profile losses. Gopinath Munde, the Union Minister for Rural Development, died in a car accident in New Delhi just days after taking his oath in June 2014. A speeding taxi hit his sedan, causing fatal internal injuries and cardiac arrest.
In April 2011, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu died when his Eurocopter AS350 B3 crashed near Sela Pass. It took a massive search operation five days to locate the wreckage. Similarly, in September 2009, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) died when his Bell 430 helicopter crashed in the Nallamala forests during a thunderstorm due to pilot error.
Earlier, in June 2007, former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma died in a high-speed collision on the Jaipur-Delhi Highway when his Tata Safari hit a truck. In 2005, industrialists-turned-politicians O.P. Jindal and Surender Singh were killed when their helicopter developed a technical snag in Uttar Pradesh. The Lok Sabha also lost its Speaker, G.M.C. Balayogi, in March 2002, when his helicopter crashed into a fish pond in Andhra Pradesh due to poor visibility.
September 2001 saw the death of Congress stalwart Madhavrao Scindia. His private Cessna aircraft flew into heavy monsoon headwinds and crashed in Mainpuri, killing all eight onboard. Just a year prior, in June 2000, Rajesh Pilot, a senior Congress leader and former IAF pilot, died when his jeep collided head-on with a bus near Jaipur.
Historical Scars (1963-1994) The history of these tragedies stretches back decades. In December 1994, former President Giani Zail Singh succumbed to injuries sustained when his car collided with a truck in Punjab.
Perhaps the most politically consequential air crash occurred on June 23, 1980, involving Sanjay Gandhi. The son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi died instantly while performing aerobatics in a Pitts S-2A biplane near Safdarjung Airport. He lost control during a low-altitude loop, an event that fundamentally altered the Congress party’s future.
The military command suffered its first major blow on November 22, 1963, in the "Poonch Generals' Crash". An Alouette III helicopter crash wiped out the entire upper echelon of the Western Command, including Lt. General Daulet Singh and Lt. General Bikram Singh, after hitting a telegraph line.
Today, as the nation pays tribute to Ajit Pawar, we are reminded of the fragile thread of life and the heavy price paid by public figures in the line of duty.
