NCP, Congress slam BJP for excluding Ajit Pawar from list of speakers at Pune event

The NCP and Congress have slammed BJP for excluding Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar from list of speakers at a Pune event.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress on Tuesday slammed the BJP for excluding Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar from the list of speakers at a temple inauguration event in Dehu near Pune city.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a rock temple at the Sant Tukaram Maharaj Mandir dedicated to the 17th-century saint in Dehu. Devendra Fadnavis, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, addressed the gathering just before PM Modi did.

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NCP leader Supriya Sule, while staging a protest in the Amravati district, said Pawar was purposely ignored and ‘denied permission’ by the PMO to speak in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the programme.

“Dada's (Ajit Pawar) office had requested to let him speak as he is the Deputy CM and Pune district’s guardian minister. But the PMO denied permission,” Sule said, adding she was sharing this information after verifying it from Pawar's office.

The NCP leaders also raised objections to the names of BJP leaders included in the list.

NCP spokesperson Ankush Kakade said, “If this was a government programme, then the deputy CM's name should have been there on the speakers' list.”