Ajit Pawar’s family collects his ashes a day after cremation

A day after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was cremated in his hometown Baramati in Pune district following his death in a plane crash his two sons on Friday collected his ashes from the funeral site news agency PTI reportedPawar 66 fondly known as lsquoDada elder brotherrsquo and four others were killed when the plane carrying them crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of the tabletop airstrip at Baramati on Wednesday morningHe was cremated with full state honours on Thursday at the Vidya Pratishthan College ground in Baramati located around 100 km from Pune city in the presence of prominent political leaders and thousands of peopleOn Friday Pawarrsquos sons Parth and Jay collected the ashes from the cremation ground The late leaderrsquos uncle and Nationalist Congress Party SP chief Sharad Pawar along with other members of the family were present during the ritual PTI reportedIn Hinduism ashes are traditionally collected the day after the cremation and later immersed in a riverRohit Pawar NCP SP legislator and Ajit Pawarrsquos nephew shared an emotional post following the leaderrsquos deathldquoI never even dreamt that the very land where Ajit Dada nurtured a garden of development would one day witness the collection of his ashes Nobodyrsquos wish prevails before the cruelty of destinyrdquo he saidldquoWhile collecting the ashes today it felt as if you might suddenly rise from them like a phoenix standing tall with the same commanding presence and say to us in your familiar voice mdash lsquoHey fools why are you shedding tears I was just pulling your leg I was conducting a mock drill to see how prepared you are to face a crisis Now get up get back to work We have so much to do for Maharashtra for the common man here Come on donrsquot be latersquordquo the post added hellip hellip pictwittercomvxD2KKfybimdash Rohit Pawar RRPSpeaks January 30 2026Ajit Pawar death Late NCP chief wanted both factions to reunite says family aideKiran Gujar a member of Vidya Prathisthan and a close associate of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawarrsquos family on Friday said that the unification of the two factions of the NCP was the late party chiefrsquos last wishAddressing reporters after the ceremony Gujar said ldquoToday the ashes of Ajit Pawar were immersed at Sangam here It was lsquoDadarsquosrsquo last wish that this merger of two factions of NCP should happen All should be united Talks about this were happening throughout the family In my last phone call with them he had asked me for some electionrelated papersrdquoEarlier NCP and NCP Sharadchandra Pawar had contested the Pune and PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporation elections together and discussions were underway for a possible alliance in the forthcoming zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections Against this backdrop there was speculation that the two factions might reunite under a single symbol before Pawarrsquos passingHis death has once again fuelled political speculation in MaharashtraReacting to this Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC appealed to people not to indulge in conjecture stating that the decision regarding the new NCP chief and the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister rests with the partyWith PTI and ANI inputs