Ajit Pawar’s meeting with Amit Shah raises eyebrows

Mumbai: The unexpected meeting of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar with Union Home Minister and BJP stalwart Amit Shah in New Delhi has raised eyebrows in Maharashtra where a lot of churning is happening in politics.

Around five months back, Ajit Pawar, the nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, had switched to the BJP-led NDA camp.

During the meeting on Friday evening, Ajit Pawar was accompanied by the party’s Working President and Rajya Sabha member Praful Patel and Maharashtra Unit President and Raigad MP Sunil Tatkare.

“Had a meaningful meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah ji in Delhi, extending warm Diwali wishes. Grateful for the opportunity to pay a courtesy call and share festive joy,” Patel said and posted a couple of photos on X.

The Ajit Pawar-Amit Shah meeting came hours after the Pawar family met in Pune for Diwali lunch. This time, the function was held at the home of Sharad Pawar’s younger brother Prataprao Pawar, the owner of Sakal Media Group. Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule was also present.

Over the past couple of weeks, Ajit Pawar has been staying away from public engagements and meetings as he was down with a dengue infection.

While what transpired in the meeting is not yet known, Maharashtra is faced with several issues including a drought-like situation and the Maratha quota reservation issue.

Also, the Cabinet expansion has been pending and so has the appointment of chairpersons and presidents of various state-government-owned corporations.

As far as the government is concerned, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is facing disqualification proceedings in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly even as the Sharad Pawar group and the Ajit Pawar camp are fighting out in the Election Commission over claim on the party and the clock symbol.