E-Paper
Dada vs Dada: A game of political one-upmanship?
Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar is seen conducting meetings with the Pune district administration on various matters, despite the fact that Chandrakant Patil is Pune district’s guardian minister
PUNE:
Days after joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) government and becoming Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar is seen conducting meetings with the Pune district administration on various matters, despite the fact that Chandrakant Patil is Pune district’s guardian minister.
On Monday, Pawar was seen taking the initiative during a meeting with Ganesh mandal workers, local administration, and police officials to discuss Ganesh Festival preparations.
The guardian minister usually calls these meetings once a year. And while Patil summoned the meeting on Monday, Pawar also showed up and was observed assuming control of the proceedings.
Following the meeting, local BJP leaders suggested that Ajit Pawar is functioning as a “super guardian minister” for the Pune district, from where he hails from. As part of the protocol, Pawar, as deputy CM, is liable to hold meetings with any department on any given issue.
With Pune as his home base, the Baramati strongman has demonstrated an interest in a variety of issues concerning Pune city and district. Pawar is also regarded as having a solid command of the administration.
When asked about his role as Super Guardian Minister, Pawar said he’d be happy to assume any added responsibility.
In response to another query about why he is not holding weekly meetings in Pune, as was his custom from 2019 to 2022, Pawar stated, “While I was the guardian minister, I took frequent follow-ups of issues, which is my way of working. However, that is not how everyone functions,” he said, with an indirect reference to the current Guardian minister.
