Pune: A day after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was cremated in his hometown Baramati in Pune district following his death in a plane crash, his two sons on Friday collected his ashes from the funeral site.
Pawar (66), fondly called 'Dada' (elder brother), and four others died after the plane carrying them crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of the tabletop airstrip at Baramati on Wednesday morning.
He was cremated with full state honours on Thursday at the Vidya Pratishthan College ground in Baramati, located around 100 kms from Pune city, in the presence of prominent politicians and thousands of people.
On Friday, Pawar's sons Parth and Jay collected the ashes from the cremation ground. The late leader's uncle and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and other members of the family were present during the ritual.
In Hinduism, ashes are traditionally collected on the next day of the cremation and later immersed in a river.
Rohit Pawar, NCP (SP) MLA and nephew of Ajit Pawar, wrote an emotional post on the latter's death.
"I never even dreamt that the very land where Ajit Dada nurtured a garden of development would one day witness the collection of his ashes. Nobody's wish prevails before the cruelty of destiny," he said.
"While collecting the ashes today, it felt as if you might suddenly rise from them like a phoenix, standing tall with the same commanding presence, and say to us in your familiar voice - 'Hey fools, why are you shedding tears? I was just pulling your leg. I was conducting a mock drill to see how prepared you are to face a crisis. Now get up, get back to work. We have so much to do for Maharashtra, for the common man here. Come on, don't be late...'," the post added.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)
