Baramati: The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) working president and Member of Parliament, Supriya Sule, on Tuesday broke down while remembering her brother and former Deputy Chief Minister, the late Ajit Pawar.
Addressing the crowd in support of Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar at the concluding campaign rally for the by-poll scheduled for April 23, Sule expressed the family’s deep personal pain over the loss.
She said she had come to request everyone to stand by Vahini (Sunetra Pawar) and added that such a day and time should never come upon any sister, her voice choking with emotion as she addressed the gathering.
During her speech, Sule recounted the harrowing moments of the day Ajit Pawar’s plane crashed.
She said she remembers the day vividly and was out for a morning walk. It was around 8:40 AM when Parth Pawar called her.
She said they talk often, so she asked him why he was calling so early. He told her that his father’s plane had crashed. She said she told him not to talk like that, but he insisted and asked her to listen.
Sule shared how she struggled to process the news in the initial moments.
She said she told Parth to check properly and asked how he was so sure his father was on that plane. She said he was talking to her on one phone and was on a call with Musale and Kiran Gujar on the other, who were at the crash site and showing him the scene via video call.
Sule confessed that the trauma of the event remains fresh.
She said that even today, when she closes her eyes, she thinks about what a day it was and what a test.
She added that she still cannot believe it happened and never gathered the courage to look at the wreckage of the plane.
She said that day, Vahini and she arrived together by helicopter, and although Parth wanted to see the aircraft, neither of them had the heart to do so. Despite the personal grief, Sule urged the people of Baramati to look towards the future and honour the legacy of the late leader.
She said she had hoped that perhaps Ajit Dada was not on that plane, or even if he was, that he would somehow come out of it alive. However, she added that what happened has happened and that the people of Baramati must make a promise to come together to fulfil the dreams Ajit Dada had for the region.
Sule concluded her speech by affirming the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition’s full support for Sunetra Pawar.
She said that, on behalf of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, including Sonia Gandhi, Uddhav Thackeray, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant, Aaditya Thackeray, Harshvardhan Sapkal, Shashikant Shinde, Jayant Patil, and all her colleagues, she gives her word to Vahini that every Maha Vikas Aghadi worker and voter will stand firmly behind her with full strength.
(IANS)
