PM, Sharad Pawar's "Candid" Chat On Stage Days After Maharashtra Switch
Amid acrimony in Delhi between the ruling BJP and the opposition, the two leaders greeted each other warmly on stage.
Pune: One of the most senior opposition leaders, Sharad Pawar, angered his friends and a number of other parties by taking the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Maharashtra today.
The two politicians embraced on stage at a gathering in Pune despite hostility between the opposition and the ruling BJP in Delhi.PM Modi approached the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) veteran at the outset of the event. Sharad Pawar smiled and patted the Prime Minister as the two leaders engaged in what news agency ANI called a "candid conversation".
The opposition's new 26-party INDIA alliance, which is scheduled to meet for the third time in Mumbai after Patna and Bengaluru, received a brutal reality check when an opposition icon appeared on stage with PM Modi.
At the Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust ceremony when PM Modi received the Lokmanya Tilak National Award, Sharad Pawar served as the event's principal guest.
Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, his deputy, and Sharad Pawar's rebel nephew Ajit Pawar, who just left the NCP and allied himself with the BJP, were all present on stage.Ajit Pawar was also received by PM Modi, who gave him a pat on the back.
PM Modi claimed that a climate of distrust prevented growth in a speech that was heavily laced with Marathi. He answered, "Trust in each other will make us powerful. The PM praised Lokmanya Tilak, also known as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, as having a special gift for spotting fresh talent. One such instance is Veer Savarkar.
Mr. Pawar had already stated that Lokmanya Tilak spent his formative years in Pune and sought complete freedom for the nation.Tilak realized he had to bring the people together if he wanted to win freedom from the British.
He trained as a journalist, founded the Kesari and Maratha weekly newspapers, and engaged in wartime resistance to the British.Tilak once said that neither journalists nor the media should be under any pressure.
Seven years have passed since PM Modi and Sharad Pawar last shared a stage. Mr. Pawar asserted that despite the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena pleading with him to cancel today's function, he couldn't possibly beg off because PM Modi had been invited months prior.
The allies had advised Mr. Pawar to resign, especially in light of the shocking schism in his party and his nephew's treachery, which were made possible by PM Modi's BJP.
Uddhav Thackeray's Sena responded by saying that Mr. Pawar might have declined to attend the event in order to dispel any suspicions that had been aroused about him.
"PM Modi blamed the NCP of corruption, then manipulated a party rift and clouded Maharashtra politics. Even so, Sharad Pawar welcomed Modi, which some people did not like.
The Uddhav Thackeray Sena stated in its publication Saamana that Sharad Pawar had an excellent opportunity to reject the program and dispel public misconceptions about him. As the "leading general" of the opposition alliance, Mr. Pawar was described as having "different" expectations of him in the Sena piece.
(For input ANI)
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