Dalits disappointed by Mahesh’s resignation
The last state assembly election had thrown up unexpected results. Some of the important ones on that are Siddaramaiah's charisma losing its charm, BJP getting highest number of seats and HDK becoming the CM even with least seats in the assembly.Even BSP which had entered into an agreement with JDS bagged a seat. Most respected and adored Dalit leader from Kollegal N Mahesh was elected. This is a major milestone for BSP which barely had any presence in the state. The party was excited about one of their own candidates becoming a Minister. This could have been a major opportunity for the party to create a base for itself in the state.
The party should have deemed it as an opportunity to grow itself in the state instead of just assuming one of their own men became a minister. But to toppling everybody's expectations Mahesh has resigned from his post of primary education minister.It is said that this was done owing to Mayawati's instructions to him over Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh elections and the coalition partners of BSP in these states.The number of BSP voters in the state is rather dismal. Forget the other community votes, even if the party had managed to bag 50% of dalit votes, it didn't have to worry so much about its existence now.
If the party hadn't struck a deal with JDS as a coalition partner, Mahesh's victory in Kollegal was a tough deal since BSP could win only one seat of the 20 seats it contested from in the state. And even for one victory, it was Mahesh's individual persona that worked more than the party's image. If this isn't the case. Mayawati's image should have cast it's magic on other constituencies too for people to win or make a good cut among voters elsewhere.
BSP gained some weight with its coalition with JDS while the latter didn't get much benefit from the partnership. There is a difference between BSP in other states such as Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, as against Karnataka. Dalit ideology is still a mirage at root level here. Already the Dalit leaders are indulging in selfish politics, even as BSP is yet to make a cut in the state. Though BSP won't gain much from the resignation of Mahesh, his departure has left a huge feeling of void and disbelief among Dalits and marginalised communities. This would also have an effect on the spirit of BSP activists and workers in the state. Mahesh was given primary education as portfolio. Most of the dalit kids are getting affected by closure of government schools in their villages and areas. He could have worked to constructively change this for their future. He could have improved the situation of schools and improved syllabus to give children an empowering childhood through scientific and rational education. One does not know whether this could have helped BSP, but surely enough it would have uplifted the marginalised communities to arm them with most modern thoughts and education.
Now with his resignation, Mayawati has to provide some logic on how it would help the party's image and growth in the state. The finality of stating ‘won't truck with any other party’ by Mayawati is to go with new coalition partners such as BJP. But let us, for a moment, respect her statement that it is better to go it alone instead of joining hands with someone else for the sake of seats/posts. BSP now has a base in the state. It does not have to go with a begging bowl to others. It has one just one seat while being coalition partners with JD(S).
Mayawati’s hope of capturing Dalit votes through coalition with JD(S) and Cong itself if somehow deeply lacking in understanding and strategy. This shows Mayawati is no different from other North centric politicians who have no understanding of Southern states. If she is indicating through Mahesh’s resignation that Dalits should not support JD(S) or Congress, who is she indicating that the community supports? What’s the main reason behind Mahesh’s resignation? This has caused a big loss to the Dalit and marginalized communities. If a high-command of a yet-to-be-stable party can stunt its own growth, what can we say about other national parties?
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Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar, four others killed in plane crash
Baramati (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other persons on board an aircraft were killed after it crashed near the Baramati airport in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old leader’s death has not only left a vacuum in the BJP-led state coalition government, but also cast a shadow on the future of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which he headed.
His uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar said the plane crash was an accident which shouldn't be politicised.
The "black box" (comprising the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder) from the aircraft, will be analysed after recovery to determine the cause of the accident, an official said.
Ajit Pawar had taken off from Mumbai in the morning to address four rallies in the day in Pune district for the February 5 zilla parishad elections.
The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak with 1,500 hours of flying, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali.
The government released a statement detailing the sequence of events that led to the crash and Pawar's death.
The aircraft, a Learjet, was cleared for landing in Baramati on Wednesday morning after a go-around due to poor visibility, but having finally received a clearance it did not give any read-back' to the ATC, and moments later burst into flames on the edge of the runway.
In aviation parlance, a go-around is a standard procedure where a pilot discontinues a landing attempt and initiates a climb to fly another approach. It is used when a landing cannot be completed safely due to factors like poor weather, an unstable approach, or traffic on the runway. It is a proactive safety measure rather than an emergency.
A readback is a crucial safety procedure where a pilot repeats back the essential parts of a message or instruction received from Air Traffic Control (ATC). It acts as a "closed-loop" communication system, ensuring that the controller's instructions were heard and understood correctly by the flight crew.
The 16-year-old chartered aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, crashed while attempting a second landing approach at Baramati airport which is an uncontrolled airfield where traffic information is typically provided by instructors and pilots from local flying training organisations.
V K Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, said the pilot apparently could not see the runway and carried out a "missed approach", a standardised procedure in such cases.
Terrifying eyewitness accounts have emerged from the site of the aircraft crash as residents near the Baramati airport described a scene of chaos as the plane appeared to lose control before erupting into a series of big explosions.
An eyewitness described watching the aircraft circle the airport, noting it appeared 'a bit unstable' before its final approach. According to her, the plane 'hit the ground hard and exploded' upon impact, with the blast being heard in homes throughout the area.
Later, the Civil Aviation Ministry, quoting the person manning the Air Traffic Control at Baramati, issued a statement about the sequence of events indicating that the flight encountered visibility issues during its landing attempt despite reports of calm weather.
The statement said that at 8.18 am, the aircraft first established contact with Baramati air traffic control after being released by the Pune approach at 30 nautical miles (around 55 km) inbound to Baramati.
The crew was advised to descend at their discretion under Visual Meteorological conditions and were also informed that winds were calm and visibility was approximately 3,000 metres.
Upon reaching the final approach for the runway, the crew reported that the runway was not in sight and initiated a go-around to reposition for a second attempt on the runway.
After initially stating the runway was still not visible, the crew reported "runway in sight" just seconds later and the ATC cleared the aircraft to land at 8.43 am.
However, the crew did not provide the mandatory readback of this final clearance and at 8.44 am, exactly one minute after the last communication, ATC personnel observed flames erupting near the threshold of the runway.
Emergency services reached the scene immediately following the explosion and the wreckage was located on the left side of the runway.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is currently analysing why the crew struggled to maintain visual contact with the runway despite the reported 3,000-metre visibility.
According to eyewitnesses, the force of the explosion was so great that parts of the aircraft were hurled through the air, landing near residential structures. "The plane tilted before coming down. We saw the explosion and it was frightening," an eyewitness said.
Another eyewitness reported that the aircraft appeared to be losing control from an altitude of approximately 100 feet above the runway.
"The way the plane was coming down, we felt it was going to crash... As we rushed towards it, we saw flames, followed by four to five consecutive blasts, which prevented us from going anywhere near the aircraft".
Pramod Madurikar, a witness at the scene, said the victims were identified shortly after the crash and were shifted to ambulances. Fire brigade personnel reached the spot shortly.
The aircraft was trying to land amid poor visibility, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told reporters in Pune.
VSR Ventures’ fleet includes seven Learjet 45 aircraft (including the one involved in the crash), five Embraer 135BJ aircraft, four King Air B200 aircraft and one Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, the statement said.
Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, said that after the crash, there was a fire. "People onboard were immediately taken to the hospital," he said.
Ajit Pawar is survived by wife Sunetra, a member of the Rajya Sabha and two sons, Parth and Jay.
His Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had contested the recent municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in alliance with his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP).
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders expressed grief over Pawar's demise.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who reached Baramati and met Ajit Pawar’s family members, described the NCP leader’s tragic death as unbelievable, and said he had lost a good friend.
Maharashtra government declared a three-day state mourning till January 30, during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings.
Ajit Pawar’s last rites will be held with full state honours on Thursday in Baramati.
Modi and Shah are expected to attend the funeral, which will be held at Vidya Pratishthan ground at 11 am, the Nationalist Congress Party said.
