Sharad Pawar, nephew Ajit to share stage with PM Modi in Pune today

Ajit Pawar had last month joined hands with chief minister Eknath Shinde and assumed the post of deputy CM alongside Devendra Fadnavis on July 2

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar will on Tuesday share stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Lokmanya Tilak National Award function in Pune, the first time the two NCP leaders will come together publicly after Ajit joined the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra against his uncle’s wishes.

Nationalist Congress Party leaders Ajit Pawar (left) and Sharad Pawar. (Rahul Raut/ HT File Photo)

Ajit Pawar had last month joined hands with chief minister Eknath Shinde and assumed the post of deputy CM alongside Devendra Fadnavis on July 2. Leaders from the Ajit Pawar faction later met Sharad Pawar on July 17 at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai for a closed-door discussion.

CM Shinde and Fadnavis will also attend the event today.

While opposition parties including the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have expressed displeasure over Sharad Pawar attending the event as chief guest, NCP MP Supriya Sule said dialogue is important in democracy despite political differences.

Modi is on a visit to Pune today to attend multiple events. At 11.45 am, the PM will be conferred with the Lokmanya Tilak National Award for 2023 by the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust in recognition of his “supreme leadership” and for “awakening the feeling of patriotism among citizens”.