- Ajit Pawar's last phone call before his death highlighted unity across castes and religions
- The NCP released the call audio to share Ajit Pawar's final message with the public
- Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash near Baramati Airport on January 28, with four others
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has released the audio of Ajit Pawar's last phone conversation before he died in a plane crash last week. The 66-year-old had last spoken to Shrijeet Pawar, a party member, before he took off from Mumbai for Baramati. The plane crashed during a landing attempt near Baramati airport on January 28.
In his last conversation, Ajit Pawar gave a message of unity and equality, highlighting the need to take along all religions and castes. Recounting the call, Shrijeet Pawar said he had sent a message to Ajit Pawar, fondly known as 'dada' in Maharashtra's politics, and that he gave him a ring as soon as he came into the network coverage area.
Read: "Possible Pilot Misjudgement Amid Low Visibility": Sources On Ajit Pawar Crash
"Ajit Dada and I are from the same village. I had sent him a message regarding a certain matter. He called me as soon as he got network coverage. He said that we are taking all castes and religions along with us," he added.
The reason why the audio has been made public is that Pawar had a message that the party believes should reach the masses. "This is an attempt to bring this audio call recording to everyone's attention so that Maharashtra knows what Ajit Dada's thoughts were until his last breath," said Shrijeet Pawar.
The conversation between the two leaders went like:
Ajit Pawar: "We also take all castes and religions along with us."
Shrijeet Pawar: "No, Dada, I just said what I felt."
Ajit Pawar: "The Mali community has been given representation in the Zilla Parishad from the Supe group. We have tried to give justice to everyone."
Shrijeet Pawar: "Yes, Dada, take whatever decision you think is right."
Read: Sunetra Pawar Didn't Believe Ajit Pawar News. Got Video Call From Crash Site
Ajit Pawar's Death
On January 28, Ajit Pawar had taken off around 8 am from Mumbai in a Learjet 45 operated by Delhi-based company VSR Ventures. He was scheduled to address four election rallies in his hometown, Baramati, ahead of local body polls. The plane crashed around 8:45 am while attempting a second approach to Baramati Airport.
Besides Pawar, his personal security officer and attendant, and two cockpit crew, pilot-in-command Sumit Kapur and first officer Shambhavi Pathak, were among those on board who died in the crash.
Ajit Pawar's death leaves a void not only in the NCP family but also in Maharashtra state politics. Days after the tragic incident, his wife Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as a deputy chief minister to fill the post left vacant by the senior leader.
