Scindia killed in plane crash

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 30. The entire political establishment and the country went into a state of shock today as the news of Mr. Madhavrao Scindia's death in a plane crash came in. Mr. Scindia, who was deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha and one of its senior-most members, was killed along with seven others, including the pilot, a crew member, an aide and four journalists.

The 10-seater Cessna aircraft belonging to the Jindal group had on board, besides Mr. Scindia, the four journalists, Ms. Anju Sharma of Hindustan Times, Mr. Sanjeev Sinha of Indian Express, Mr. Ranjan Jha and Mr. Gopal Bisht, correspondent and photographer of Aaj Tak - Mr. Scindia's public relations man, Mr. Rupinder Singh, and pilot, Mr. Ray Gautam and co-pilot, Ritu Malik. The bodies have since been recovered, but reports indicated that they were charred beyond recognition.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has instituted an inquiry into the plane crash.

By late afternoon, when the news of Mr. Scindia's death was confirmed, a pall of gloom set over the capital - the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi along with her daughter, Ms. Priyanka, the Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, and hundreds of politicians from all parties, well-wishers and friends gathered at his residence here at 27, Safdarjung Road, to condole the death.

Messages of condolences started pouring in. The President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, sent a personal letter to the bereaved wife, Ms. Madhavi Raje Scindia. The former Prime Ministers, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, and Mr. Inder Kumar Gujral, were among those who met the family to express their grief.

The plane had taken off from here at 12.50 and was to reach Kanpur an hour later, where Mr. Scindia was to have addressed a Congress rally, part of the series of pre-election meetings planned by the Congress, and named Parivartan Yatra. But at 1.33 pm, 17 minutes before the plane was due to land in Kanpur, the Air Traffic Control in the city lost contact with it. Later, it was said that the plane caught fire in mid-air and the pilot may have tried to make an emergency landing in a field. But it had become a ball of fire by the time it hit the ground. The accident occurred near the Motta railway station in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh.

Heavy rain in and around the crash site apparently hampered and delayed retrieval operations. Senior police officials in Uttar Pradesh said that the site of the accident could be approached only on foot. Huge pools of water as a result of the rain added to the problems.

As news came in of the accident, there was little hope of any survivor, but at the Congress Party office people kept hoping against hope. But around 4 p.m. it was confirmed that all on board had died.

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was among the first to arrive at Mr. Scindia's residence while other party leaders and Union Ministers began soon streaming in. Police had to move into the area in strength as cavalcades of VVIPs started arriving. Mrs. Gandhi spent considerable time with the family. Mr. Advani and Mr. Arun Jaitely, the Law Minister, took personal charge and issued instructions for arrangements to bring Mr. Scindia's mortal remains to Delhi.

Ms. Sheila Dixit, Delhi Chief Minister, and Congressman, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, both said that they had earlier planned to make the visit to Kanpur with Mr. Scindia. But above all, disbelief and shock was on the faces of the large number of visitors to the Scindia home.

What has especially shocked the party is that recently death has claimed several of its young and promising leaders. Rajesh Pilot had died in a road accident, Jitendra Prasad fell victim to a brain haemorrhage, and now Scindia. Mr. Kamal Nath, another prominent young Congress leader narrowly escaped when a small plane he was travelling in crashed, killing some others on board.

CWC condoles

At an emergency meeting of the Congress Working Committee, a condolence resolution was adopted placing on record its profound sorrow and grief at the tragic and untimely death of Mr. Scindia and others in the plane crash.

The mortal remains of Mr. Scindia and other passengers aboard the C-90 Beechcraft plane would reach the Capital early on Monday morning. The body of Mr. Scindia would be kept at his official residence for people to pay their last respects. On Tuesday, the body would be taken to the AICC(I) headquarters here for some time. Later in the afternoon, the body will be flown to Gwalior by a special plane.

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