NCP Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in an air crash on Wednesday. Like him, India had lost many political leaders in aviation accidents Subhas Chandra Bose was perhaps the first Indian political leader reportedly killed in a plane crash on August 18, 1945, in present-day Taiwan.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Gurnam Singh died in a plane crash in Delhi on May 31, 1973 Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of Indira Gandhi died when the aircraft he was piloting crashed on June 32, 1980. Madhavrao Scindia, former Union Aviation minister and father of Jyotiraditya Scindia was killed when the chartered aircraft carrying him crashed on September 30, 2001. Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam Party leader G M C Balayogi died in a chopper crash on March 3, 2002 in Andhra Pradesh.
Haryana Power Minister OP Jindal, along with former Union Minister Surender Singh were killed in a helicopter crash in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on March 31, 2005. Dorjee Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh and Y S Rajasekhara Reddy of undivided Andhra Pradesh were the Chief Ministers who died while in office. YSR was killed in a 2009 chopper crash, while Khandu lost his life in a 2011 crash. Most recently, former Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Vijay Rupani died on 12 June 2025 in the crash involving Air India Flight 171