Don't overanalyse meeting with Sharad Pawar, says Ajit

Last week in Pune, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar stated that his meeting with his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar was uneventful.

Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, he said there was no need to think too much about the meeting.

"Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) has already clarified. The media is giving different kinds of publicity to a meeting that took place between family members, leading to confusion. There is no reason to think that anything unusual transpired at the meeting," he said.

On Saturday, political circles were abuzz after a "secret" meeting took place between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar at a businessman's residence in Pune. Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil was also present.

Asked about him leaving the premises `hiding' in a car, Ajit Pawar said he was not there in the car.

"I did not leave surreptitiously. I am someone who roams around openly. There was no reason for me to hide....I was not there in that car," he said.

Visuals aired by regional news channels showed Sharad Pawar arriving at the residence of businessman Atul Chordiya in the Koregaon Park area around 1 pm on August 12 and leaving around 5 pm.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar was purportedly seen leaving the premises in a car at 6:45 pm.

Ajit Pawar, who split the NCP in July this year and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state, said he accepted that he met Pawar senior.

The Pawar family had an association with businessman Atul Chordiya for two generations, he said.

"Chordiya had invited Pawar Saheb for lunch. He was supposed to go there after a program at the Vasantdada Sugar Institute and as Jayant Patil was with him, he also went along. I reached there after completing the Chandni Chowk bridge inauguration," Ajit Pawar said.

The deputy CM was in Kolhapur to attend Independence Day celebrations.

In his speech on the occasion, Ajit Pawar said Kolhapur is a progressive district which also boasts of signs of ancient traditions. The state government is committed to the development of all sections of society including the farmers, women and youth in the state as well as in the district.

He was fortunate to get an opportunity to hoist the flag in the historical city which has the legacy of social reformist ruler Shahu Maharaj and Maharani Tarabai, he said.

India made a lot of progress in the last 76 years and is now among the first five economies in the world, Pawar said.

If the GDP growth continues at the same pace, India will surpass Germany and Japan and become the third largest economy in the world, he added.

(With agency inputs)