Pune, Feb 29 (IANS): Apparently throwing a political googly, NCP-SP President Sharad Pawar has invited Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and both Deputy CMs, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, to his home in Baramati in Pune for dinner on Saturday.
The trio will visit Sharad Pawar’s stronghold Baramati for the NaMo Rojgar Fair in which thousands of unemployed people shall be given jobs, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Surprisingly, Sharad Pawar has not been invited for the event taking place in his backyard in a prestigious institution founded and headed by him, the Vidya Pratishthan.
However, his daughter and NCP-SP Working President and MP Supriya Sule and two other MPs, Vandana Chavan and Dr. Amol Kolhe plus other major leaders of different parties, figure on the invitation list.
This is the first mega-event of its kind to be graced by the CM and both Deputy CMs after the NCP suffered a vertical split in July 2023.
It is not clear whether Shinde-Fadnavis-Ajit will accept Sharad Pawar’s dinner invitation that has already created an embarrassing scenario for the ruling MahaYuti regime.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Supriya Sule said in a regretful tone that she and her colleague Chavan were invited, but her father Sharad Pawar’s name had been omitted, though he heads the institution where the mega-event is being held.
Another Pawar clan member, MLA Rohit R. Pawar and Sule’s nephew, slammed the government for not adhering to protocols and inviting Sharad Pawar for the official event.
“The government will splash money and make big promises to the youth in the name of jobs which they may not get…” said Rohit R. Pawar.
NCP-SP National General Secretary, Dr. Jitendra Awhad, also frowned at the developments, terming them as “not desirable especially when the function is being organised in the hometown of a nationally-respected leader like Sharad Pawar.”
The party’s National Spokesperson, Clyde Crasto, said this reveals the small mindset of the government and “their insecurity” in the presence of a national stalwart and astute political leader like Sharad Pawar.
Sharad Pawar, who founded the Vidya Pratishthan in 1972 is its current President while the committee members include his grand-nephew Yugendra S. Pawar, Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra A. Pawar, among others.