Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar were on the same stage in Pune on Tuesday where the former was conferred with the Lokmanya Tilak National Award. Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who rebelled against his uncle and took away a significant chunk of the NCP MLAs to join the NDA government in the state, was also present at the event.
Pawar’s attendance at the event honouring PM Modi led to protests by the Opposition with leaders from the Congress and Uddhav faction of the Shiv Sena gathering at Pune’s Lokmanya Tilak statue in Mandai. The INDIA-led protest has also found support from some Manipur groups and tribal committees’ organisations.
The protesters were seen raising slogans against the Prime Minister, questioning his silence on the Manipur issue, and demanding his statement in Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon Session. Black flags were also waved during the protests which are being held in an area close to the famous Dagduseth Temple where the PM is scheduled to visit first.
There is heavy deployment of police personnel in the entire area in view of the protests. Congress leaders Ravindra Dhangekar, Mohan Joshi, Ramesh Bagwe and Sanjay Balgude were also taken into preventive custody near Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya, as they were on their way to the protest site. They were released later and said they were going to the protest site.
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Opposition parties earlier expressed their reservations to Sharad Pawar, the chief architect of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance that brought down the NDA government in the state, sharing the stage with PM Modi. Leaders from the Congress and the Uddhav Sena said the development would come as bad optics at a time when there is an attempt to corner the Centre, and the Prime Minister, on the Manipur issue.
“When a leader from the opposition coalition — MVA or INDIA — chooses to attend such a function, then confusion is bound to happen. Pawar is an experienced leader, we do not have to tell him all this,” Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP in Rajya Sabha, said, adding that the leader must clear the air on his stand.
Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad also urged Pawar to reconsider his decision. “I request him (Pawar) to reconsider his decision,” she said.
The event comes when Sharad Pawar faces the biggest battle of his political career with a majority of his own party MLAs and MPs siding with his nephew Ajit Pawar in his claim to the party name and symbol before the Election Commission. While an unfazed Pawar hasd so far put up a brave face, promising to launch a statewide Yatra and rebuild the party as he did in the past, there is no clarity yet on when he is going to undertake the exercise.
Pawar’s attendance is likely at an event in which Modi will be conferred with the Lokmanya Tilak Award today in recognition of his “supreme leadership” and for “awakening the feeling of patriotism among citizens”. The award was constituted in 1983 to honour the legacy of Lokmanya Tilak and is presented every year on August 1, the death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak. During his visit, Modi will inaugurate two sections of the Metro rail and lay the foundation stone of various development projects.