Sharad Pawar Meets Eknath Shinde, BJP Says It's Not Political

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar on Thursday met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence in Mumbai. Pawar took to Twitter to say that he went to invite the chief minister to the 75^th anniversary celebration of Maratha Mandir, an iconic cinema hall in south Mumbai.

Speaking about the meeting, the BJP, which is an ally of the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra said that it was not political but a personal one. The two leaders also spoke about the problems faced by Marathi films, theatres, artistes and artisans in the state.

Sharad Pawar wrote on Twitter, “On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Maratha Mandir, Mumbai, the organization will organise a commemorative function. Today I met Hon'ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde at his official residence Varsha to invite him for this event.”

“Also discussed with Hon’ble CM about organising a meeting to know the problems of Marathi film, theater and art sector artists and artisans in Maharashtra and inviting organizations from film, theater, folk art, channels and other entertainment media to the said meeting,” he wrote in a further tweet.

Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde shared two videos of the meeting on Twitter and wrote, “National President and Member of Parliament of the Nationalist Congress Party @PawarSpeaks Saheb today visited Varsha or government residence and received good wishes.”

After the meeting, BJP leader and cabinet minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the meeting was a personal one and there was no other meaning to it. He said, “Sharad Pawar's meeting with CM Shinde is not political but personal. CM is of everybody and of Pawar as well. There is no need to read further into the meeting.”

After being told that the meeting took place with Uddhav Thackeray abroad, Mungantiwar said, “If this is true, then we welcome it. But according to me, this was not a political meeting and when the political meeting takes place, it will not be known to you.”

Moreover, Sharad Pawar said that the approval of the amendment proposed by the state cabinet in the Cooperatives Act, 1960 is inappropriate. It does not give equal representation to women. Pawar said, “As per the proposed amendment, if one cannot attend co-operative meetings for five years consecutively, their membership will be revoked.”

“We discussed the decision and I appealed that it should be revoked in favour of women representatives,” he added.

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