top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Ajit Pawar dreamt big for Baramati

Mumbai/Pune : Shunned as a dry and drought-prone sub-district of Pune on the Deccan Plateau barely five decades ago, Baramati today symbolizes one of Maharashtra’s most striking examples of systematic rural transformation with the lion’s share of credit going to the state’s numero uno Sharad Pawar clan.   The prime activity of farming thrives here, cooperatives flourish, industries are booming, education soars and the infrastructure is envied even by many developed urban centres.   Little...

Ajit Pawar dreamt big for Baramati

Mumbai/Pune : Shunned as a dry and drought-prone sub-district of Pune on the Deccan Plateau barely five decades ago, Baramati today symbolizes one of Maharashtra’s most striking examples of systematic rural transformation with the lion’s share of credit going to the state’s numero uno Sharad Pawar clan.   The prime activity of farming thrives here, cooperatives flourish, industries are booming, education soars and the infrastructure is envied even by many developed urban centres.   Little wonder that the Pune region ranks lowest in terms of farmers suicides – in 2024, there were only 24 deaths, as per official data, said Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti President Kishore Tiwari, who has chronicled distress in farmlands of the state for three decades.   “The Pawars ensured that the region got adequate funds, irrigation, power and other planned facilities that helped the farmers immensely… We wish all other districts in the state to emulate this example, especially Vidarbha which is regarded as the farmland suicides hotbed,” Tiwari told  The Perfect Voice .   Though the foundations of the sea-change was laid by Sharad Pawar, later it was his nephew Ajit Pawar who architected his uncle’s long-term vision to reality through untiring efforts, single-minded dedication and tough groundwork for over four decades to achieve what is the famed ‘Baramati Model’.   As several lakhs of mourners turned up from all over Western Maharashtra and other places to bid a final adieu to Ajit Pawar on Thursday (Jan. 29), many were seen weeping, crying and wailing, and some expressed concerns for the future of Baramati and Pune district – in the absence of their active ‘messiah’.   While Sharad Pawar laid the ground-map for Baramati, Ajit Pawar implemented it by ensuring that government policies, big and small projects and different schemes not only reached the region but tangibly changed the lives of the locals.   As he grew in politics and entered governance in various positions, Ajit Pawar quickly grasped how the official machinery worked, and along with his stern approach, fiscal and administrative discipline plus knowledge of his home turf, he kickstarted the evolution of Baramati and surroundings.   Way back in 2009, when he was not even a Deputy CM, Ajit Pawar told a group of visiting journalists from Mumbai his dreams of catapulting Baramati onto the world map in various aspects of a model of rural-led development and progress that touched each citizen.   For this, he persistently advocated the upgradation of the small Baramati Airport, built by the MIDC in 1996, having a short runway (1770 metres long x 30 metres wide), where his ill-fated aircraft crashed on Wednesday morning. The airport is mostly used for small aircraft operations and training purposes.   Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan under whose tenure Ajit Pawar first became the Deputy CM, said that “he was a rare politician, a young visionary, dynamic and decisive, passionately pro-farmer and supportive of the cooperative sector”.   “When I was CM and he was the Deputy CM, he helped me take many tough decisions in the public interest. He was a sure-shot to lead the state (as CM), sooner than later. We have lost a great national-level leader whom coming generations would emulate,” Chavan told  The Perfect Voice , acknowledging Ajit Pawar’s contributions to the state.   Baramati Effect A local party activist, Milind Jadhav recalled how, when the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded by Sharad Pawar suffered a vertical split in July 2023, “every home and family in Baramati was splintered”.   “All the people were at a loss to decide whom to support in the ‘kaka-putnya’ political war, particularly during the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Thankfully, the politics was strictly kept at bay from Baramati’s development and also the Pawar household, he said.   Despite the political wranglings, Ajit Pawar visited Baramati at least once a week, reviewed important proposals, funds and expenses, status reports and other minute details, at times, showing more insight than the officialdom, was a stickler for the ‘ghadi’ (watch), often jumped up for unannounced site visits that rattled the officials.   The Baramati Industrial Development Corporation – part of the MIDC – came into existence in 1962 under Sharad Pawar, but under Ajit Pawar it spread wings to come up as an ideal industrial zone. National and international companies like Kalyani Steels, Bharat Forge, Godfrey Phillips, SMT Ltd. Imsofer, Schreiber, Piaggio, Ferrero, Senvion, India's first wine factory at Narayangaon (1982), and later proliferated to Nashik.   Simultaneously, the western Maharashtra’s agriculture backbone of sugarcane, grapes, jowar, wheat and cotton support many of the top performer cooperatives in the region and the Baramati Hi-Tech Textile Park (established in 2008 through Sharad Pawar’s efforts), support domestic apparels industry creating jobs and prosperity.   Strong background support comes from institutions like Agriculture Development Trust, several agriculture colleges affiliated to major agriculture universities, all combining for activities like modern farming techniques, entrepreneurship, water conservation, women’s education and empowerment, health-care besides skill development and upgradation.

India working on logistics of Tahawwur Rana's extradition

  • PTI
  • Feb 14, 2025
  • 3 min read

Updated: Feb 18, 2025

Tahawwur Rana

Washington: India is working on the logistics of Tahawwur Rana's surrender and extradition from the US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said, as President Donald Trump announced that his administration has given the go-ahead to extradite the 26/11 terror attack accused “to face justice".

“This is an issue on which the US authorities have taken very clear decisions. I think you've seen the President announce it himself from the White House podium" the decision of the US to extradite Rana, Misri said at a press conference here on Thursday.


During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Tahawwur Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.


In response to a question by PTI on the timeframe by when Rana will be extradited to India, Misri said: "We are working on the logistics of his surrender and extradition to India. There are a few final steps to be completed. The two sides are in touch on this particular issue.”


The India-US joint statement issued during the Prime Minister's visit to the US notes that Modi and Trump reaffirmed that the global scourge of terrorism must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated from every corner of the world.

“They committed to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021," the joint statement said.


“Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved," it said.


The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks.

"The leaders also pledged to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors,” the joint statement added.

Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles. He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.

Speaking at the joint press meet, Trump said "Today I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and very evil people of the world, and having to do with the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, to face justice in India. So, he is going back to India to face justice."


The extradition of Rana was cleared by the US Supreme Court in January as it rejected his review petition in the case.


India last month said it was working with American authorities for the early extradition of Rana.


"The US Supreme Court on January 21 declined to hear a petition from the accused. We are now working with the US side on procedural issues for early extradition to India of the accused in the Mumbai terror attack," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said.


In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman among the Pakistani group, was hanged to death in Yerawada Jail in Pune.

-PTI

Comments

bottom of page