CM’s 66th birthday marked by simplicity

Living up to his image, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan celebrated his 66th birthday on Saturday by giving a pep talk to the bureaucrats and senior staffers who had gathered to wish him in his Mantralaya office. HT reports.

Living up to his image, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan celebrated his 66th birthday on Saturday by giving a pep talk to the bureaucrats and senior staffers who had gathered to wish him in his Mantralaya office.

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Chavan’s day began with wishes pouring in from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Later, he received cabinet colleagues, leaders from opposition parties and well-wishers from across the state — most of them from CM’s home district Satara — at a specially erected pandal at his Malabar Hill residence, Varsha. Guests were offered sweets and lavish dishes were on the day’s menu.

Nationalist Congress Party boss Sharad Pawar also visited Varsha, apart from state Congress president Manikrao Thakre, Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and state industries minister Narayan Rane. Industrialist Anil Ambani and GAIL chairman BK Tripathy also wished Chavan in person.

Later in the day, Chavan went to his Mantralaya office where senior officers and his personal staff greeted him.

Chavan thanked them for helping develop the state and encouraged them to work even harder. “You have done so much for the state and I thank all of you for doing so. All of us need to do even better,” he said.