Political Chess: Sharad Pawar Throws Surprise Lunch Invite to CM Shinde, DCMs Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar During Baramati Visit

 

Unleashing another unexpected move that has confounded his adversaries, seasoned leader Sharad Pawar extends lunch invitation to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar during their visit to his home base in Baramati on Saturday.

While Pawar Senior personally dispatched invitations to the trio, Jayant Patil, a senior leader from his party NCP, met Shinde in person to convey the invite. The invitation has left not only the top state government officials, including nephew Ajit, who had previously split a significant portion of the NCP from Pawar Senior, puzzled but has also raised eyebrows among Pawar’s allies, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT).

Pawar has opted not to provide any specific rationale for the invitation, other than publicly stating his intention to give Shinde a traditional welcome on his first visit to Baramati in Pune district as Chief Minister.

The visit coincides with the unveiling of an employment scheme, the Namo Maharozgar Yojna, in Baramati. While a similar event took place in Nagpur, Fadnavis's hometown, a few months ago, the selection of Baramati seems deliberate, likely intended to unsettle Pawar, especially in light of the NDA parties expressing their intent to challenge the control of Pawar's family over the Baramati Lok Sabha seat this time.