New Delhi: Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was killed in the Air India plane crash on Thursday. He was among the passengers onboard the ill-fated flight to London, which crashed soon after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhai Patel International airport in Ahmedabad. He now joins a long list of Indian political figures who have died in plane crashes.
List of high-profile public figures who died in air crashes
1. Sanjay Gandhi: In this list of political leaders who have lost their life in plane crashes, the first name that pops up is that of Sanjay Gandhi. The younger son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi died in an aviation accident in 1980. He died while flying a small aircraft in Delhi. His death caused a vacuum in the Congress party and left his mother shattered,
2. Mohan Kumaramangalam: The then Union Steel and Mines minister, Mohan Kumaramangalam was killed in an aircraft crash near Delhi in 1973. The Air India flight, AI 440 crashed and the body of the Union Minister was identified by only a Parker pen and the hearing aid that he had on him at the time of the crash.
3. YS Rajasekhara Reddy: Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy died in a chopper crash in September 2009. He had served as the 14th CM of the state. His helicopter had crashed in the Nallamala forest and the debris was found after a 24 hour search.
4. Madhavrao Scindia: Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia was killed in a chartered plane crash in 2000. The accident took place in UP. His death followed an earlier air scare which he had survived. Before his death, he had held key portfolios in the Congress government like civil aviation, human resource development, railways, and communications.
5. Balwantrai Mehta: Balwantrai Mehta was another Gujarat CM who died in a plane crash. He died during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. His plane was mistakenly shot down by the Pakistani airforce near the border. Pakistan misidentified the plane as a reconnaissance plane.
The death of former Gujarat CM Rupani is likely to reignite the debate around aviation safety in India. A total of 241 people onboard the ill-fated aircraft died, while 1 person had a miraculous escape. PM Narendra Modi visited Ahmedabad on Friday and met the survivors. He also met the doctors injured in the accident, after the plane hit a building which housed the hostel of a medical college.
