Sanjay Gandhi, YSR, to Ajit Pawar: Political leaders who have died in air crashes

Vijay Rupani (died in 2025)

Last year, former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani died when the Air India aircraft carrying him and 241 others crashed minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad airport.

Rupani, a BJP leader, was Gujarat CM from 2016 to 2021, and had taken charge of the state when the party was already on the backfoot following the Patidar agitation that had forced out Anandiben Patel. While he stabilised the ship and oversaw the party’s return to power in 2017, he was replaced a year before the Assembly elections because of anti-incumbency sentiments building up.

At the time of his death, Rupani, who was from the Baniya community, was not playing an active role in state politics and was serving as the BJP’s in-charge for Punjab and Chandigarh.

Dorjee Khandu (2011)

Former Arunachal Pradesh CM Dorjee Khandu died in a helicopter accident on April 30, 2011, when the single-engine five-seater helicopter he was travelling in crashed in bad weather soon after taking off from Tawang. The helicopter was trying to cross the 14,000-foot Sela Pass when it turned eastward and hit a cliff, reports at the time said. Khandu was a Congress leader and his son, Pema, too, had started his career with the party. Pema switched to the BJP in 2016 and is currently serving as the Arunachal CM.

Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (2009)

Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, popularly known as YSR, died on September 2, 2009, when his Bell 430 helicopter crashed in the dense Nallamala forest. Nearly 24 hours later, Indian Air Force helicopters spotted the crash debris and the remains of the five people on board were spotted on a hillock, about 70 km east of Kurnool. Those who perished in the crash along with YSR were Principal Secretary to the CM, Dr P Subramanium, Chief Security Officer A S C Wesley, and the two pilots: Group Captain S K Bhatia and Captain MS Reddy.

YSR had led the Congress to two successive election wins in the state and became one of its most powerful CMs. Following his death, there were reports of several admirers of the widely popular Reddy attempting suicide. Politically, it had a massive impact on the Congress and as the Telangana movement gathered momentum, the party missed his presence and in the 2014 elections was reduced to 21 seats in the then 294-member House, down from 156 five years earlier.

The Congress’s footprint shrank because of the UPA government’s decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh and create Telangana. The party also refused to give space to his son and successor Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who broke away to float his own party and govern the state from 2019 to 2024.

O P Jindal and Surender Singh (2005)

Leading industrialist and Haryana Power Minister Om Prakash Jindal died in a helicopter crash in 2005 along with state Agriculture Minister Surender Singh. They were ministers in the Congress government at the time. Their chopper was flying from Chandigarh to Delhi when it crashed in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

G M C Balayogi (2002)

Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader G M C Balayogi died on March 3, 2002, when a helicopter carrying him from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district crashed into a pond near Kaikalur in Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district. The probe revealed that the helicopter developed a technical snag and crashed when the pilot tried to bring it down. His son G M Harish is currently a TDP MP from Amalapuram.

Madhavrao Scindia (2001)

Senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, a former Civil Aviation Minister, died on September 30, 2001, in a plane crash en route to a political rally in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The 10-seater aircraft crashed near Manipuri.

Scindia was a nine-term Lok Sabha MP and following his death, a vacuum was expected to develop in state politics and in the Congress. But it was quickly filled by his son Jyotiraditya. However, Jyotiraditya severed ties with the Congress in March 2020 and joined the BJP. He is currently the BJP MP from Guna and a Union Cabinet Minister of Communications and the Minister for the Development of North Eastern Region.

Sanjay Gandhi (died in 1980)

Congress leader and son of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi died on June 23, 1980, when the plane he was co-piloting crashed in Chanakyapuri in Delhi.

Gandhi and his co-pilot, Subhash Saxen, died instantaneously when the plane meant for stunt flying nose-dived and crashed after hitting a tree. By the time Indira Gandhi reached the accident site, both bodies had been placed in an ambulance. Aviation experts who examined the crash site have said preliminary investigations indicated that the plane crashed while the pilot was performing a spin and was about to pull up. Experts said the plane had probably drifted lower than the minimum prescribed height of 500 feet to 1,000 feet.

Sanjay Gandhi’s death brought Rajiv Gandhi and his family to the fore and led to the eventual sidelining of Sanjay’s family, wife Maneka Gandhi and son Varun Gandhi who joined the BJP when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the PM. While the Congress has still been battling the Emergency stigma, the same would have been deeper had Sanjay lived, as he was a key figure during those days and took unpopular decisions such as forced sterilisation and the razing of structures at Turkman Gate in Delhi.

Two leaders who died in road accidents

Rajesh Pilot (2000)

Former Deputy CM and senior Congress leader Rajesh Pilot died in a road accident on June 11, 2000, when his jeep collided with a bus in his Lok Sabha constituency Dausa in Rajasthan. Pilot, a former Air Force pilot-turned-politician, sustained serious injuries in the crash. Following his death, his mantle was taken over by his son Sachin Pilot, one of the top two leaders in Rajasthan Congress at the moment. Sachin who served as the Leader of Opposition played an instrumental role in bringing the Congress to power in 2018 and even served as a Deputy CM. He is currently the MLA from Tonk and a general secretary in the All India Congress Committee.

Gopinath Munde

Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde, the BJP’s OBC face in Maharashtra, died of injuries in a road accident early morning of June 3, 2014, in the heart of New Delhi, within a month of his election to the Lok Sabha from Beed. The 64-year-old was on his way to the airport when his vehicle was hit by another car. Following his death, the fortunes of the Munde family dipped and there was a feud between his daughter Pankaja and nephew Dhananjaya for control of Beed. Neither of them has been able to match Gopinath Munde’s stature.