Ministerial no-show at Ashok Chavan's meet

Only two state ministers show up for former Chief Minister's much-touted Nanded Ahead Investors Meet in his constituency

IN what is being seen as proof of former chief minister Ashok Chavan's waning influence in the Congress, none but two state ministers turned up for the much-touted investors' meet in his constituency, Nanded.
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One of the two who did turn up is Chavan's confidant, DP Sawant, minister of state for medical and technical education.

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One of the two ministers who did turn up is Chavan's confidant, DP Sawant, (inset) minister of state
for medical and technical education.

The Nanded Ahead Investors Meet 2011, held between February 11 and 13, was organised to promote the region as an emerging industrial destination.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State for Housing Sachin Ahir, Industries Minister Narayan Rane and Minister of State for Water Resources Ranjit Kamble were among the invitees, but none of them turned up, citing various reasons.

Though the meet was planned during Chavan's term as chief minister, preparations meant that it could be held only after he was forced to resign.

The other minister present was Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil Nanded Chamber of Commerce secretary Chandrakant Gavane said, "We had a few ministers in attendance but Narayan Rane said he was out of town and would not be able to attend.

Sachin Ahir said he had to participate in a ritual and Ranjit Kamble informed that he could not reach the Mumbai airport on time for the flight to Nanded."

"Similarly, the chief minister had informed us that he would not be coming due to some unavoidable reasons," he added.

'Successful meet'

Gavane, however, claimed the meet was a success. "The meet was successful and a spurt in investment is expected. Wellspun Energy has promised to invest in a 300-million-dollar solar energy project."

When contacted, Principal Secretary Industries AM Khan said, "We support such meets regularly.

This was no different and we provided them support through various corporations. We gave the organisers Rs 30 lakh for this meet."

Emergent
Nanded is the second largest city in the Marathwada region and is located 600 km east of Mumbai. This region is already home to several small- and medium-scale enterprises located in seven MIDC industrial areas. Some of the prominent companies that have their facilities in Nanded are Tata Chemicals, Pioneer Distilleries and Advance Steel World.