Pawar meets Shinde at Varsha for 30 mins

Shinde said that it was a courtesy call for an invitation to an upcoming function. “Pawar saheb heads an organisation called ‘Maratha Mandir’ and had come to invite me for its 75th anniversary event. It was not a political meeting,” CM Shinde said

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar had more than a half an hour meeting with chief minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence ‘Varsha’ on Thursday.

Pawar meets Shinde at Varsha for 30 mins

The meeting is the first since Shinde became CM after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed last year. It set off much speculation, as the agenda for the meeting remained unclear.

Shinde said that it was a courtesy call for an invitation to an upcoming function. “Pawar saheb heads an organisation called ‘Maratha Mandir’ and had come to invite me for its 75th anniversary event. It was not a political meeting,” CM Shinde said.

Pawar is the president of Maratha Mandir, a charitable institution established in 1945.

The NCP supremo took to Twitter and said, “Today met chief minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence to invite him for the Amrit Mahotav of Maratha Mandir organisation.” “We have also discussed holding a meeting to understand the problems of artists and artisans from the Marathi film, theatre and art industry,” Pawar further said. It must be noted that the meeting took place when Pawar is said to be unhappy with the state cabinet’s decision related to the state cooperation department in which it was decided that only active members will get the right to vote and contest elections in the cooperative bodies in the state.

Meanwhile, Adani Group head and billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani met Sharad Pawar at his residence after the latter’s meeting with Shinde at Varsha. This is the second meeting between the two in the last two months.

Last time, Adani called on Pawar at his Silver Oak residence on April 20, two weeks after Pawar rushed in his support following allegations of financial malpractice and stock manipulation by the Adani Group brought up by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research in January this year.