Ajit Pawar was a prominent political figure in Maharashtra and had played a key role in the development of Baramati, which has long been considered the Pawar family's political stronghold
Pic/PTI
A memorial of late Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will be set up on the premises of Vidya Pratishthan, the Baramati-based educational institution founded by the Pawar family, a close associate has said, reported news agency PTI.
Ajit Pawar (66) and four others were killed in a plane crash near the airstrip at Baramati airport in Pune district on January 28.
Kiran Gujar, a close aide of Ajit Pawar and confidant of the Pawar family, on Sunday said the memorial has been planned on the Vidya Pratishthan premises where his last rites were performed, reported PTI.
"Today, Sharad Pawar saheb, before heading to Mumbai, visited the venue of the last rites along with Pratibha Pawar and instructed me, and the trustees of Vidya Pratishthan, to chalk out a plan for Ajit Dada's memorial," Gujar told PTI.
Discussions will be held with the trustees to finalise the design and structure of the memorial in the coming days, he added.
Ajit Pawar was a prominent political figure in Maharashtra and had played a key role in the development of Baramati, which has long been considered the Pawar family's political stronghold.
Amid merger speculation after Ajit Pawar's death, Tatkare says NCP will continue to be in NDA
Meanwhile, NCP Maharashtra president and Lok Sabha MP Sunil Tatkare on Sunday said his party will continue to be a part of the BJP-led NDA, asserting that the organisation will move forward on the ideology and path laid down by the late Ajit Pawar, reported PTI.
His statement came amid claims that February 12 had been fixed as the date for the announcement of the merger between the NCP and NCP (SP), more than two and a half years after the Sharad Pawar-founded party split following Ajit Pawar's switch over to the ruling Mahayuti.
"Whatever people may say, our stand is clear. We will take forward the party and the ideology given by Ajitdada. We are firm on this position," Tatkare told reporters at the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) state office in Mumbai.
"We are with the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and will remain with the NDA. This was a well-thought-out decision taken by Ajitdada," the Raigad Lok Sabha MP said, reported PTI.
The decision to align with the ruling National Democratic Alliance was taken collectively under Ajit Pawar's leadership, Tatkare said, emphasising he had never taken any political decision without the late leader's consent.
Referring to criticism over the "haste" in having Sunetra Pawar sworn in as deputy chief minister just days after Pawar's death, Tatkare said the Constitution gives everyone the right to express their views, but stressed that the decision was taken in the interest of Maharashtra and to strengthen the NCP.
"There is nothing wrong in her taking the oath to stabilise Maharashtra and to fulfil Ajit Pawar's vision of a developed state," he said, reported PTI.
Tatkare said the decision on the party's Rajya Sabha candidate was an internal matter of the NCP and praised the BJP for maintaining cordial relations within the NDA. "The BJP has always cooperated with us and treated its allies with respect," he said, reported PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
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