NEW DELHI: Veteran Maharashtra leader and NCP chief Ajit Pawar’s uncle Sharad Pawar on Wednesday ruled out conspiracy theory over the death of his nephew, who died in a fatal plane crash earlier in the day.In a first reaction to Ajit Pawar’s death, the NCP(SP) chief said that Ajit Pawar’s death was just an accident and it should not be based on politics.“Some people are trying to give a political color to the incident. There is no politics involved; it is purely an accident,” Sharad Pawar said.“It has caused immense grief to me and to the entire state of Maharashtra. I appeal to everyone not to politicize this tragedy,” he added.This comes after the opposition demanded an inquiry over the plane crash in which Ajit Pawar was onboard.Just hours after the accident West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged a “political conspiracy” behind the plane crash and demanded a Supreme Court-supervised probe.“I don’t know what is the fate of the opposition political parties but he was very much with the ruling party. But two days ago, I came to know that someone from another party had given a statement that Pawar was willing to leave the BJP, and now this has happened today,” she alleged.“I demand a proper investigation under the supervision of the Supreme Court. We have trust only in the Supreme Court and no other agency. All agencies have been completely compromised,” she added.She further alleged that Pawar was preparing to rejoin the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by his uncle, Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP), citing recent reports that have suggested such a possibility.Additionally, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also called for a probe, describing Pawar’s death as untimely and deeply shocking.“We will demand an investigation into this accident. It is a very sad incident. Ajit Pawar died a premature death. The passing away of a hard-working man has shocked us all. We are with his family in this hour,” Kharge said.Pawar, along with his PSO and three cabin crew members, died in a fatal plane crash while traveling from Mumbai to Baramati. The plane crashed while attempting to land at the Baramati airfield.The crash occurred around 8.48 am, and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau have dispatched probe teams to the site of the mishap to investigate.Ajit Pawar was the longest-serving deputy chief minister of Maharashtra non-consecutively. He served in the position for six terms within various governments.He had worked as deputy chief minister in the cabinets of Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.
