India lost one of its great sons: Farooq Abdullah on Ajit Pawar’s death in plane crash

JAMMU: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah expressed grief over the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on Wednesday and said the country has lost one of its great sons.

“The news about Pawar’s death is heartbreaking. He was a great son of Maharashtra who sincerely tried to change the destiny of the state. His passing away in the plane crash left me deeply saddened,” Abdullah told reporters here.

He said the contribution of the deceased politician will never be forgotten and “today, India has lost one of its great sons.”

“No one has power over the will of Allah. He was on his way to Pune for election preparations, but fate did not favour him. His death is not only an irreparable loss to the entire Pawar family but for the entire nation,” the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.

Expressing condolences with Sharad Pawar and other members of the family, Abdullah prayed for peace of the departed soul and sought strength for the family to bear his loss.

Pawar, 66, and four others were killed when a private aircraft carrying them crashed while trying to make an emergency landing near his hometown Baramati in Pune district on Wednesday morning.

The Nationalist Congress Party leader was heading from Mumbai to Baramati, where he was scheduled to address rallies for the February 5 zilla parishad polls, when the incident took place. (PTI)