PM Modi, Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar Share Stage Days After Maharashtra Switch

Pune:

Sharad Pawar, one of the seniormost leaders in the opposition bloc, shared stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function in Maharashtra’s Pune today, upsetting his allies and several other parties that had urged him to skip the event.

The optics of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) veteran on stage with PM Modi was a harsh reality check for the opposition, days after 26 parties announced the INDIA alliance to take on the ruling BJP in next year’s national election. The alliance is set for its third meeting in Mumbai, after its previous outings in Bihar’s Patna and in Karnataka’s Bengaluru.

Sharad Pawar was the chief guest at the event organised by the Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust, in which PM Modi received the Lokmanya Tilak National Award.

Also on stage were Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his Deputy Devendra Fadnavis and Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar, who split the NCP recently and joined hands with the BJP.

Mr Pawar was seen patting PM Modi when he greeted him at the start of the function.

“Lokmanya Tilak wanted to get complete freedom for the country and he spent his early days in Pune. To be independent from the British, Tilak knew he needed to unite the masses. He became a journalist and then had Kesari and Maratha weekly newspapers and fought against the British. Tilak used to say there shouldn’t be any pressure on journalism and journalists shouldn’t be pressured,” Mr Pawar said.

PM Modi and Sharad Pawar last appeared on a stage together seven years ago. As his Maharashtra allies, the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, urged him to skip today’s event, Mr Pawar said he couldn’t possibly beg off, given that he had invited PM Modi months ago.

The allies had said Mr Pawar should opt out as the situation had changed after the shock split in his party and his nephew’s betrayal, enabled by PM Modi’s BJP.