‘I have lost an elder brother’: Eknath Shinde mourns Ajit Pawar’s death, vows thorough probe into plane crash

MUMBAI: DCM Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said that DCM Ajit Pawar’s passing was very unfortunate and a sad moment. DCM Shinde said the govt will conduct a thorough investigation into the plane crash. “Our colleague has lost his life. Therefore, the plane crash will definitely be investigated. We will investigate so that such accidents do not happen again,” DCM Shinde said.

“Ajit Pawar was leading the state. He was straight forward and had a grip on the administration. He spoke after taking detailed information on issues. He often admitted mistakes and was very kind at heart. I have worked with him in the cabinet. He was DCM when I was CM. When we launched the ladki bahin scheme and other schemes, he handled the finances very well,” Shinde said.




“Once he decided, he would do things. He didn’t let things go. He would say yes or not very clearly. He spoke with clarity. We worked as a team with CM Devendra Fadnavis and DCM Ajit Pawar. He used to start work early in the morning even at 6 am in the morning, he gave appointments to people and officers. We met recently at an event in Mumbai when the CJI came to Mumbai. I met Ajit Pawar that time,” Shinde said.

“He was more experienced than me in politics. He was older than me too. So he knew about a lot of issues and he had handled many departments. So he used to speak on these issues and even took care of the finances. He often asked us to maintain austerity. So it is not just the loss of the Pawar family it is an irreparable loss to all of Maharashtra. He was like an elder brother and I feel like I have lost an elder brother. I offer humble tributes to him. There is a mountain of sadness,” Shinde said.