India, Jan. 29 -- The ongoing Zilla Parishad elections in Maharashtra will, for the first time in decades, be held without Ajit Pawar actively leading the campaign. Pawar was travelling to Baramati on Wednesday to campaign for the polls when the fatal accident occurred. Four rallies had been scheduled for the day.

Polling for the Zilla Parishad elections will be held on February 5, with counting slated for February 7. With the election process already underway, Pawar had been campaigning intensively across the state over the past week. He was in Mumbai on Tuesday and returned to Baramati on Wednesday morning to lead the campaign for the Pune Zilla Parishad.

Ajit Pawar had dominated the Pune Zilla Parishad for nearly two decades and was ...