Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who was killed in a plane crash on Wednesday, had shared an anecdote about the tense moments he experienced while flying in a helicopter to Gadchiroli with a couple of prominent politicians from the state amid bad weather in July 2024.
He had shared the experience at a public function in Gadchiroli, where he arrived in the helicopter from Nagpur with the then deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Industries Minister Uday Samant.
Although the anecdote was about the mid-air scare he experienced, Ajit Pawar had narrated it in his trademark humorous style. A video of Pawar’s speech has now resurfaced on social media following his death.
He had said that although he was very nervous during the helicopter journey as nothing was visible outside due to a thick cloud cover, Fadnavis was unperturbed and told him that he had experienced mid-air scares six times earlier, and asked him to calm down, saying nothing bad would happen.
The incident had taken place on July 17, 2024 when the three leaders were heading to Gadchiroli from Nagpur for the foundation stone laying ceremony of Surjagad Ispat Pvt Ltd, a steel company.
Addressing the gathering at the event after their arrival, Pawar had said, “When we started from Nagpur in the helicopter, it was fine at first. But later, when the helicopter entered the clouds, I looked this way and that way – there were clouds everywhere. And our Devendra Fadnavis was just sitting there, casually chatting.”
“I told him (Fadnavis) – ‘Look outside, we can’t see anything, no trees, no ground, nothing. We are flying blindly through the clouds. Where are we even going?’ But he calmly replied – ‘Don’t worry at all. I have experienced six such incidents so far. Whenever I am in a helicopter or a plane and an accident occurs, nothing happens to me. So, nothing will happen to you either,” the veteran leader had said.
“I thought to myself – ‘My goodness, what is he saying? I already had a sinking feeling in my stomach! Today is Ashadhi Ekadashi (a holy day), so I was constantly chanting ‘Panduranga, Panduranga’ (God’s name) in my mind. And here was this ‘Maharaj’ (Fadnavis) giving me advice,” he had said.
Pawar had also said that as Fadnavis told him not to worry, he remained completely relaxed and nothing bad really happened.
“It is the good deeds of his (Fadnavis) elders that we reached here (safely)…Those good deeds helped us,” he had said.
“But friends, honestly, all of us were quite shaken. Uday Samant was sitting to my right, and he said, ‘Dada, Dada, look! The ground is finally visible’. I said – ‘Thank God, we can see the ground now!’ Jokes apart, everyone must take care,” he had said.
Pawar (66) and four others were killed after a plane carrying them crashed in Baramati town in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday morning.
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