Sharad Pawar, wife fly back to Baramati

How did it happen, a composed Sharad Pawar asked after landing in Baramati, hours after the tragic death of his nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an aircraft crash on Wednesday. The 85-year-old Pawar senior and his wife Pratibha Pawar flew to their hometown in a helicopter from Mumbai after hearing the news.

Later he left for the hospital where Ajit Pawar's body has been kept.

Ajit had broken away from his uncle to join hands with the BJP in 2023. It led to a split in the Nationalist Congress Party.

But the two NCP factions recently came together to contest the municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.