The meeting of the governing council of Pune-based Vasantdada Sugar Institute, a government-recognised research institute, brought together Sharad Pawar, his party’s state president Jayant Patil, and rival NCP leaders Ajit and Dilip Walse Patil
Sanjay Raut, whose party is a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance with the NCP (SP) and Congress, made it clear that Shiv Sena (UBT) maintains no contact with those who defected. File pic
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar met his estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Ajit on Saturday at the Pune-based Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI), news agency PTI reported. The meeting sparked sharp remarks from Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).
ADVERTISEMENT
Raut, whose party is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance with the NCP (SP) and Congress, made it clear that his party maintains no contact with those who defected.
"Everything is going fine between them... We do not even try to have any contact with those who quit the Shiv Sena. The way they betrayed Maharashtra and backstabbed it... we will not go anywhere near them," Raut said, referring to the faction of the Shiv Sena led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
The meeting of the governing council of VSI, a government-recognised research institute, brought together Sharad Pawar, his party’s state president Jayant Patil, and rival NCP leaders Ajit and Dilip Walse Patil, PTI reported.
Raut also took a dig at the NCP factions, saying, “They have institutions like the Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Vidya Pratishthan, Rayat Shikshan Sanstha. We do not have anything like that. We do not have such meetings (with former party colleagues), and if there is a possibility of such a meeting, we avoid it. We do not believe in having dialogue in politics. We will keep fighting those who split our party and teach them a lesson.”
The Rajya Sabha MP's comments follow his earlier disapproval of Pawar for praising and felicitating Shinde, who split the Shiv Sena in 2022.
Meanwhile, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule downplayed the significance of a meeting between Patil and Ajit, amid speculation of her party state president crossing over to the other NCP faction. Patil has denied reports of joining the faction headed by Ajit.
"The Vasantdada Sugar Institute has members from all parties. Issues related to the sugar industry, farmers, allied businesses, and new technology were discussed at the governing council meeting. It is an academic meeting where no politics or political ideologies are discussed," Sule told reporters.
Ajit also emphasised the non-political nature of the gathering, stating, "We are all members of the VSI, and we met to discuss various issues related to the sugar sector like the use of Artificial Intelligence."
Responding to Raut's criticism, NCP (SP) leader Amol Matale said, "Instead of criticising others, please see what is going on in your own backyard." He also stated that the meeting between Ajit and Patil was not a secret.
(With PTI inputs)
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
