Ajit Pawar's death: Shinde says he has lost 'elder brother'; plane crash will be probed
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday described the death of his fellow Deputy CM Ajit Pawar as sad and unfortunate and said the aircraft accident that claimed his life will be probed.
Speaking to reporters, Shinde said that with Pawar's demise, he has lost his "elder brother" who not only served as his colleague in different cabinets but was also his deputy when he helmed the government from 2022 to 2024.
"It is a very painful incident...very sad and unfortunate for Maharashtra. The aircraft accident will be probed," the former chief minister said.
"This loss is not just of the Pawar family but of the entire state. I am feeling as if I have lost my elder brother," Shinde added, while describing it as a "dark day" for Maharashtra.
Pawar, 66, and four other persons were killed after the aircraft carrying them crashed in Pune district on Wednesday morning, officials said.
Shinde said Pawar had a pure mind and was a very straightforward, fearless leader, with a grip on administration.
He recalled how Pawar, as the then finance minister, made fiscal arrangements when his government (in 2024) decided to roll out the Ladki Bahin Yojana, which provides a monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 to women in the state.
"We (Shinde, Pawar and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis) worked as a team," Shinde said, highlighting that their bond went far beyond political titles.
"He was older than me in experience and age. Today, we have lost a visionary, outspoken and studious leader. He was not only my colleague, but a very dear friend. This untimely demise is a shock to my soul," the Shiv Sena leader said.
Shinde recalled how Pawar managed the state's treasury without letting development work stall.
Despite it being a three-party coalition government, Shinde emphasised that Pawar ensured the administration functioned as a single, united unit.
He remembered Pawar's "sharp and on-the-spot" decision-making and his quality of time management.
"Rather than dreamy presentations and mere rhetoric, he would examine practical matters. Whenever a concept came up, he would force everyone to think: how long would it last, and who would it benefit?" Shinde noted.
While Pawar was a strict disciplinarian who never broke the framework of etiquette, his "clear, soft humour and poignant jokes" were loved by everyone in the legislative assembly, he pointed out.
Shinde said Pawar was known to mentor juniors not by correcting their mistakes, but by teaching them how to prevent those mistakes from happening in the first place. He insisted that people's representatives study the long-term impact of their decisions on the lives of common citizens, the Sena leader added.
VIDEO | Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde expresses grief and condolences over the demise of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in an aircraft crash.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 28, 2026
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
