Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and five other persons were killed after an aircraft carrying them crashed in Pune district on Wednesday morning, officials stated. The incident took place when the plane carrying NCP leader Pawar (66) and others was landing in Pune’s Baramati area, as per a report by PTI.
Here are the names of the leaders who have lost their lives in similar incidents in which political leaders have lost their lives while travelling on duty or public engagement.
Madhavrao Scindia:
A senior Congress leader and Union minister who was killed in a plane crash in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, on September 30, 2001, along with others on board.
Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, was among five people killed when a Bell 430 helicopter crashed on September 2, 2009, because of bad weather conditions.
Dorjee Khandu: The then Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh died in a helicopter crash after his chopper went missing on April 30, 2001. The wreckage and bodies of four others were later located in a remote area near Tawang.
Vijay Rupani:
In a tragic aviation disaster on June 12, 2025, former Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani was among those who lost their lives when an Air India passenger aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad. Rupani, who served as Gujarat’s chief minister from 2016 to 2021, died in the incident along with hundreds of others.
Sanjay Gandhi: Congress leader and Member of Parliament, was also killed in a plane crash in New Delhi on June 23, 1980. Gandhi died when the Pitts-S2 aircraft he was piloting crashed shortly after taking off from Safdarjung Airport. He was 33 at the time of his death and has sent shockwaves across the country.
GMC Balayogi: Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader GMC Balayogi died in a helicopter crash on March 3, 2002.. A private Bell 206 chopper in which he was travelling crashed near Kaikalur in Krishna districts, Andhra Pradesh.
Balwantrai Mehta: Former Gujarat Chief Minister Balwantrai Mehta was killed on September 19, 1965, when a civilian aircraft he was travelling in was shot down during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.