1 day Ago
1 2 3 Pune: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday refuted speculations of a rift with the other deputy CM, Eknath Shinde , and said there was a cordial relation between them. On the eve of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj 's death anniversary, Union home minister Amit Shah came down to Pune on Saturday and from there flew to Raigad Fort to pay respect to the Maratha emperor. Certain media reports claimed that during Shah's brief stay in Pune, Shinde complained to him of not getting enough cooperation from the finance department headed by Ajit Pawar.
"It is absolutely a lie. I, along with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shinde, were together with Shah throughout the day, but Shah did not say anything about any such complaint," Pawar told reporters in Satara. "If Shinde had any complaint, he would have directly spoken to me or the CM.
" Pawar said he and Shinde have been attending meetings together every week, and they are taking decisions in a coordinated manner. Replying to a question that he did not get a chance to speak at a programme in Raigad where Shah, Fadnavis and Shinde delivered speeches, Pawar said, "The CM told me to speak, but since it was already past 2pm and it was getting late, I decided against it. And if I had spoken only for five minutes, some people would have still taken objection that I insulted Shivaji Maharaj.
" Later in the day, Pawar, along with his uncle and NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar, attended a meeting of Rayat educational institution in Satara. When asked about it, the deputy CM said, "Pawar saheb is the chairman of the institution, and being a member of it, we were called for the meeting. This is an important institution that provides education to students from rural areas.
Considering the changes in technology and the introduction of artificial intelligence, we feel that it is our responsibility to ensure modern education is given to students. Therefore, we attended the meeting to discuss how to incorporate these changes in the syllabus.".
