NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's demise is a personal loss not only for the NDA family but also for him.

In a message posted on 'X', Shah said, "The way Ajit Pawar ji dedicated himself to the welfare of every section of society in Maharashtra over the past three-and-a-half decades cannot be expressed in words.

"Today, the news of the loss of Maharashtra's deputy chief minister and our senior NDA colleague Ajit Pawar ji in a tragic accident has left my heart deeply distressed," he said.

Expressing deepest condolences to the Pawar family, Shah said that in this hour of grief, the entire NDA stands firmly with the bereaved Pawar family.

"Whenever we met, he would engage in long discussions on numerous issues related to the welfare of the people of Maharashtra. His passing is a personal loss not only for the NDA family but also for me," the home minister said.

"May God grant the departed soul a place at his divine feet. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti," he said.

Pawar (66) and four other persons were killed after an aircraft carrying them crashed in the Pune district on Wednesday morning, officials said.

According to Flight Radar, the flight took off from Mumbai at 8.10 am and it disappeared from the radar around 8.45 am.

Pawar was travelling to Baramati from Mumbai to address public meetings as part of the campaign for the February 5 zilla parishad elections in the state.

There were five people on board when the aircraft crashed at 8.50 am, a police official said.