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CM in Baramati heaps praise on Sharad Pawar and family; taunting BJP
Speaking at the inauguration of the Incubation and Innovation Centre and Scientific Research Institute at Baramati, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday lavished praise on NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his family for their development vision
PUNE: Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday lavished praise on Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and his family for their development vision. Thackeray was speaking at the inauguration of the Incubation and Innovation Centre and Scientific Research Institute at Baramati, Sharad Pawar’s hometown. Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar too were present at the occasion. The three leaders met on the day NCP leader and former state home minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested and remanded to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED’s) custody in a money laundering case. Earlier, the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena broke its alliance with the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and formed the government in Maharashtra by striking another alliance with the NCP and Congress party.
Speaking at the event, Thackeray called Sharad Pawar a “youthful leader” who has shown the “Sun of development” to everyone. “Sharad Pawar is leading the state. He is leading several such institutes here and while he is continuously working, his family too is working tirelessly towards one obsession namely, development,” Thackeray said.
Commenting on his former criticism of Sharad Pawar, Thackeray said that in politics, opponents are a must. “We were opponents and we used to criticise each other as well but the entire world knows about the friendship between Sharad Pawar and Sena supremo late Balasaheb Thackeray. Balasaheb used to tell us that we should go to Baramati and see what Sharad Pawar has done over there,” the CM said.
Referring to the incubation centre, Thackeray, in a thinly-veiled reference to the snapping of ties between the Sena and BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls, said that there should be an incubation centre in politics as well. “We (Shiv Sena) had opened one incubation centre 25 years ago. We also hatched some unwanted eggs and everyone knows what happened later,” Thackeray said.
The CM said that Ajit Pawar was telling him that Baramati would become the number 2 centre in education after Pune. “According to me, as far as teaching lessons in politics is concerned, Baramati is already number one. I am sure the way Pawar and his family are working towards development, it will become one of the best centres not only in Maharashtra but in the whole country,” he said.
The CM appreciated the Agricultural Development Trust in Baramati for bringing best practices from abroad and implementing them. He lauded Sharad Pawar for bringing about a transformational change in Baramati and the surrounding areas.
On his part, Sharad Pawar said that the Agricultural Development Trust has constantly strived for innovation and thanked the CM for visiting Baramati and inaugurating the innovation centre. “The trust strives to use the best innovative practices and knowledge available in institutes worldwide and in India and use them in rural areas,” the NCP chief said. Sharad Pawar said he would strive to set up a centre of artificial intelligence in Baramati.
In response, the CM assured full support of the state government and said he would never come in the way of good work and that if there are obstacles and red tape, those too will be removed. “We have to do all those things that will make our state not only the number one in the country but also in the world and we will do it for sure,” he said. Wishing everyone a happy Diwali, he said that some people are talking about bursting bombs after the festival. “I would like to tell them that burst bombs, burst crackers, but ensure that there is no smoke as we are yet to overcome Covid-19,” he said.
