Pune (Maharashtra): A day after controversy erupted over the MahaYuti government not inviting NCP-SP President to an event being held in his hometown Baramati, another official invitation was sent out on Friday with Sharad Pawar’s name featuring prominently on it.
The Pune Collector also called the veteran leader on behalf of the Maharashtra government and extended a formal invitation to attend the two-day NaMo Maharojgar Melava being held on March 2-3.
In the new invitation card, the name of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is in the top position, followed by the two Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in the second slot, and Sharad Pawar in the third position.
The controversy arose as the job fair is being held in the 52-year-old Vidya Pratisthan educational campus, which is an institution founded and currently headed by Sharad Pawar. Its committee members include his grand-nephew Yugendra S. Pawar, Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra A. Pawar, among others.
NCP-SP leaders said on Friday that unmindful of the “omission”, Sharad Pawar was planning to go for the event as a Baramatikar and sit in the audience among ordinary citizens.
“Pawar Saheb is way above such politics. He considers it a great opportunity for the youth of Baramati and Maharashtra if they can get good employment opportunities at the job fair,” said a senior leader, requesting anonymity.
The job fair got more than its share of publicity on Thursday after Sharad Pawar invited Shinde-Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar for a “chai pe charcha” at the Vidya Pratisthan guest house, along with the entire Cabinet, and also solicited the trio’s presence for dinner at his residence.
Pawar even made a phone call to Shinde, giving his invitation a personal touch.
Given Pawar’s ‘dinner diplomacy’ and the storm created by it, no major MahaYuti leader commented on the issue and even officials were at a loss to confirm whether Shinde-Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar would accept the dual invites.
The MahaYuti faced severe criticism for ignoring Sharad Pawar and drew flak from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi top leaders including Nana Patole, Supriya Sule, Dr. Jitendra Awhad, Dr. Amol Kolhe, Rohit R. Pawar, Clyde Crasto and Sanjay Raut.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in )
–IANS