Headlines
Modi-Pawar luncheon on Valentine's Day
Mumbai/Pune, Feb 12
Considerable political
interest has been generated as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NCP
chief Sharad Pawar plan to have lunch together Saturday, which happens
to be Valentine's Day.
Modi will travel to the home of the
Nationalist Congress Party chief in Baramati in Pune district after
attending several events, including an expo at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra
in Baramati, though NCP leaders claim it was nothing of political
significance.
The meeting will be the highlight of Modi's day-long visit to Maharashtra with engagements in Pune and Mumbai.
NCP
state president Sunil Tatkare, not willing to be dragged into any
political speculation, retorted Thursday: "What is wrong if the prime
minister attends a function pertaining to development?"
Modi will
arrive in Pune Saturday morning and proceed to Chakan for a function at
General Electrical, then a visit to Vidya Pratisthan Sanstha in
Baramati, inauguration of the Appasaheb Pawar Hall, a visit to Krishi
Vidyan Kendra, addressing a farmers' meet, and finally lunch with Pawar
at his home before flying to Mumbai.
In Mumbai, he will attend
the valedictory function of the Sesquicentennial Celebrations (150
years) of the Advocates Association of Western India.
Governor
C.V. Rao, union Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis and other dignitaries shall be present on the
occasion.
On Wednesday, Fadnavis sought to downplay the meeting
by saying that Modi was not visiting Baramati to meet Pawar, but to
attend an agricultural science expo.
"If the exhibition is being
conducted at some venue under a centrally-sponsored scheme, what is
wrong if the prime minister goes to witness it," Fadnavis asked.
He
said that though there may be political differences between the
Bharatiya Janata Party and the NCP, they would not treat Pawar as a
political untouchable.
Modi had in October last year targeted Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar during the Maharashtra assembly election campaign.
He had called upon the electorate to dislodge the "uncle-nephew government" and labelled the NCP as "naturally corrupt party".
But
after the elections, when the BJP emerged as the single largest party,
the NCP had offered 'unconditional external support' in the interest of
political stability - till a sulking Shiv Sena discarded the role of
opposition party and joined the government a month later.
Later,
Pawar had hit back by opposing Fadnavis's proposal to set up a
high-level committee headed by Modi to oversee the development of
Mumbai, while the NCP also protested against various plans to reduce the
numero uno position of Mumbai.
Against this backdrop, Modi's
visit to Maharashtra and a meeting with Pawar, coming shortly after the
BJP's rout in the Delhi assembly polls, followed by Shiv Sena's bitter
criticism of both Modi and the BJP, has naturally evoked great interest
in political circles.