Nationalist Congress Party (SP) general secretary Rohit Pawar on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to ask Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu to resign from his post until the investigation into the January 28 plane crash that claimed the life of former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar is completed.
Meanwhile, the civil aviation ministry said on Thursday that the preliminary report on the accident that claimed the lives of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others will be published by February 28.
Describing the situation as a “political or institutional conspiracy,” Pawar said, “We demand a transparent and independent investigation under the supervision of a committee of retired officers, a former judge, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Maharashtra MPs, MPs including Supriya Sule, Dada (Ajit Pawar) family members, and other party members.”
The investigation is subject to scrutiny. Rohit, a third-generation leader of the Pawar family — Ajit’s father and Rohit’s grandfather were brothers — has raised questions about maintenance practices at VSR Ventures. On February 10, he said the incident might have been an act of sabotage. He is part of the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, from which Ajit parted ways in July 2023.
Seeking a transparent and time-bound investigation, Pawar wrote: “Serious questions have arisen about VSR and its links with Shri Ram Mohan Naidu. These links must be investigated by an independent and competent authority.”
“I have always shown respect for Ajit Dada and his contribution to the country. In this context, I request that Ram Mohan Naidu be asked to resign from his post until the investigation is completed,” he said.
“This is necessary to ensure that there is no influence or interference in examining whether the DGCA has been compromised in any way in relation to the VSR,” the letter said.
Speaking to the media from the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Rohit said he appealed to the Prime Minister for his personal intervention as there is no other authority who can ensure an independent investigation.
Pawar alleged that one of VSR’s major lenders, Heritage Finlease Limited, has directors from the family of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, including his wife, as well as the wife of Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh.
He said that this funding path directly overlaps with the political affiliation of the Minister of Civil Aviation and constitutes a clear conflict of interest.
He also alleged that VSR, which owns the plane that crashed in Baramati, operates planes used by several high-profile figures and that influential figures from the ruling party and TDP attended VSR promoter Rohit Singh’s wedding in Jaipur, citing what he described as the company’s closeness to political and corporate power across party lines.
Referring to the update issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry on February 19, Pawar questioned the statement that the flight data recorder (FDR) had been downloaded successfully while the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) had suffered “thermal damage”.
He wondered how this was possible, since the black box was designed to withstand extreme temperatures. “If one survived, how did the other fail?” question.
Pawar also raised questions about the timeline of the special review of the VSR, pointing out that the audit committee was constituted on February 2 with a report submitted on February 15, but no report has been published so far.
To be sure, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement issued on February 19: “Following the incident, the Ministry requested the DGCA to conduct a special audit of VSR projects to conduct a comprehensive review of regulatory compliance, operational control systems, maintenance practices, crew training standards, safety management systems, and CVR/FDR monitoring. The audit began on February 4, 2026 and is expected to conclude soon. The findings will be reviewed and actions will be taken in accordance with the decisions of the DGCA. Implementation Policies and Procedures Manual.”
He said that only two pilots were on the panel and claimed that neither of them were rated aboard the Learjet 45 involved in the accident.
Pawar alleged that VSR often did not conduct mandatory breath analyzer (BA) tests for pilots.
It was also claimed that the plane involved in the accident had only 85 hours of engine life left, despite standards requiring a complete overhaul much earlier.
According to Pawar, non-recording of flying hours was common in the VSR.
Pawar claimed that the plane also had a message on the CAS (Crew Alert System) indicating fuel imbalance. “What does it mean? One tank has less fuel than the other, which also means the plane could lose its balance and tilt to one side, which is what actually happened during this accident. This could happen due to a fault in the cross-feed valve or incorrect refueling which is a prohibited item,” he claimed, adding that there were suspicions of extra fuel cans being illegally stored in the back of the plane.
“The possibility that this excess fuel was the reason behind the severity of the explosions inside the plane cannot be ruled out. Was the plane’s fuel tank completely filled? Given that the fuel could have been refilled later in Baramati, Shamsabad or Patna, why did the tank remain full from the beginning?”
Ajit Pawar was traveling to Baramati when his plane crashed after failing to spot the runway and caught fire. He died in the accident along with security officer Videep Jadhav, pilot-in-command Captain Sumeet Kapoor, first officer Captain Champavi Pathak, and flight attendant Pinky Mali.
