Who Is Digambar Durgade? The Man Ajit Pawar Mentioned In His Last Phone Call Before His Death

Pune: The last recording of a phone call made by the state's late Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar, just minutes before his accidental death, has gone viral. He made this call shortly before the plane crash, and in it, he mentions a specific person: Digambar Durgade of Purandar. The contents of that one-minute conversation have now gone viral, and Digambar Durgade has expressed his reaction to the incident.

Ajit Pawar, along with four others, died in a private aircraft crash when it lost control while landing at Baramati Airport on 28th January. Moments before Ajit Pawar died, he spoke on a video call. Ajit Pawar, in this call, was seen speaking about the Pune Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls. Ajit Pawar was going to Baramati for campaigning.

What did Ajit Pawar say in the call recording?

In the recording, Ajit Pawar can be heard saying to someone, "Listen, Baba, for many years, I made Digambar Durgade, a man from the Mali community, the Chairman of the entire District Bank. Do you know how big this bank is? You people don't know anything... We take every caste and religion along with us, child...”

The context was that a worker named Shrijit had expressed displeasure because the NCP had not given a Zilla Parishad ticket to a candidate from the Mali community. He had requested that a candidate from that community be fielded.

To this, Ajit Pawar was replying, saying, 'We take all castes and religions along equally. We gave candidatures to the Mali community in many places, including Supe. We also gave opportunities to OBC candidates. Other parties did not give such candidatures.”

Who is Digambar Durgade, and what did he say about the call?

Dr Digambar Durgade is the Chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank from Purandar and is a resident of Walhe village in Purandar tehsil. Dr Durgade doesn't belong to a political family and was a long-time loyalist of Ajit Pawar. He was elected to this position in January 2022, succeeding Ramesh Thorat.

Dr Durgade has served as a director of the PDCC Bank for over 16 years. In the 2009 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, Dr Durgade contested from the Purandar Assembly constituency but lost to Shiv Sena’s Vijay Shivtare by around 15,000 votes.

According to available information, he holds an M.Com from Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) and has worked in the educational sector, including roles with the SPPU’s Board of Studies.

Regarding the viral recording of Ajit Pawar’s final call, Durgade said, "Today, the recording of Ajit Dada’s last call went viral and became a topic of discussion. Many people have asked me about it. I believe the reference was made while Dada was explaining ticket distribution for the Zilla Parishad or Panchayat Samiti to a party worker in Baramati or a nearby area. Ajit Dada was a massive personality in Maharashtra; he tried his entire life to practice politics beyond the barriers of caste.”

“We saw that even Raj Thackeray said about him that while there may have been differences between them, Ajit Pawar was not a man who believed in caste -- he was someone who rose above it. That was evident in this call recording. Dada was telling that worker that he is not someone who believes in casteism."

He further added, "Dada gave an ordinary worker like me the opportunity to serve on the District Bank; he was the one who gave me my first ticket. Even now, just before his passing, Dada gave a ticket to my daughter as well. He gave the final ticket of his life to my household. Dada distributed these final tickets across the district and Maharashtra; ensuring all these candidates get elected will be the true tribute to him.”

Dr Durgade concluded, saying, “Many workers within and outside the district are working hard for this. Though we lack the strength to campaign [due to grief], the meaning of Dada's viral recording is simply that he wanted to send a message that he moves forward by taking people of all castes and religions along. Dada is no longer with us, but he took every worker along. That is what he was trying to say, and we will all work by forgetting everything else."