From Sanjay Gandhi to Vijay Rupani: A list of political heavyweights, prominent figures who lost their lives in air tragedies
The
Air India plane crash
in Gujarat's Ahmedabad claimed over 200 lives including that of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani.
Rupani was on the London-bound flight that crashed moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 241 of the 242 persons on board.
Let's have a look at a list of the top politicians and prominent figures who lost their lives in air tragedies:
Homi Bhabha (1966)
India's pioneering nuclear physicist Homi Jehangir Bhabha died in a tragic crash aboard Air India Flight 101 on January 24, 1966. The plane crashed into Mont Blanc in the Swiss Alps due to a miscommunication with the Geneva air traffic control.
Sanjay Gandhi (1980)
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Congress leader and son of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi died in a tragic crash on June 23, 1980. Attempting aerial stunts in a Delhi Flying Club aircraft near the Safdarjung Airport, the plane lost control and crashed.
Madhavrao Scindia (2001)
Senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, himself a former civil aviation minister, died on September 30, 2001, in a plane crash en route a political rally in Kanpur. The 10-seater private aircraft crashed due to poor weather conditions near Manipuri in Uttar Pradesh.
GMC Balayogi (2002)
Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam Party leader GMC Balayogi died in a chopper crash on March 3, 2002, when a private helicopter carrying him from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district crashed into a pond near Kaikalur in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.
Cyprian Sangma (2004)
Meghalaya's Rural Development Minister Cyprian Sangma and nine others, who were heading from Guwahati to Shillong on a Pawan Hans helicopter, were killed when the chopper crashed near the Barapani lake, just 20 km from the state capital, on September 22, 2004.
KS Sowmya (2004)
Famous South Indian actress K S Sowmya, popular as Soundarya, lost her life in an air crash on April 17, 2004. The "Sooryavansham" actress was flying from Bengaluru to Karimnagar with her brother at the time of the crash.
OP Jindal and Surender Singh (2005)
Industrialist and Haryana minister Om Prakash Jindal lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2005 along with Agriculture Minister Surender Singh. Their chopper was en route Chandigarh from Delhi when it crashed in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur.
YS Reddy (2009)
Then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (2009), popularly known as
YSR
, died on September 2, 2009, when his Bell 430 helicopter crashed in the dense Nallamala forest due to bad weather.
Dorjee Khandu (2011)
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others were killed on April 30, 2011, when a helicopter carrying them from Tawang to Itanagar crashed in West Kameng district of the state.
CDS General Bipin Rawat (2021)
India's first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash on December 8, 2021. The incident occurred near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu while he was en route from Sulur to Wellington with his wife and 11 others.
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Can Modi get even his own BJP-ruled states to deregulate, reform and make the changes needed to force competitive reforms in other states? Paradoxically, Modi's political capital may also be hindering reform, for his own partymen may think political survival only needs them to sing Modi's praises instead of doing the hard work on reforms. The opposition also believes that defeating Modi needs excessive spending on freebies. The way out is clear Modi has to use his political capital to push all kinds of reforms forward, in both BJP-ruled states and those governed by the opposition. If that needs the Centre to shed some of its excess powers, so be it. If Governors need to be reined in, jolly good. If delimitation is on the table, Modi must again step up to the plate personally. He cannot leave these jobs entirely to his ministers, who may not have the political heft to swing the deals needed to move India forward. As for China, Modi has the difficult task of both engaging Beijing for equitable trade deals and building up military muscle to deter any adventurism on its part. A tough balancing act, which would be easier if the opposition were not constantly carping about his weakness, including levelling the preposterous allegation that Modi gave in to Donald Trump's pressure during Operation Sindoor, as encapsulated in Rahul Gandhi's 'Narender, Surrender' jibe. In the short post-Pahalgam conflict with Pakistan, China's hand-holding of Islamabad's armaments was unmistakable. PM Modi must ask himself a simple question: what is the use of all my prestige and political capital if it ultimately does not get things done for the country? He has to get his politics right. This means his 56-inch chest must disclose an open heart to win over the opposition in the interests of the country. He can leave the task of winning elections to his second-in-command and state satraps, who must be allowed to grow in stature and do the job he is trying to do when he has other things to worry about. India does not need double-engine sarkars; it needs three engines firing in sync—at the central, state, and local levels—to boost growth. In short: India's decade of vulnerability needs a Prime Minister fully engaged with the threats and challenges it faces—both globally and at home. He cannot afford to be distracted by the need to pander to narrow politics. R Jagannathan is the former editorial director, Swarajya magazine. He tweets @TheJaggi. Views are personal. (Edited by Prashant)
