Arun Jaitley's visit to Sharad Pawar's home turf comes amid souring ties between the BJP and its ally in the Maharashtra government, Shiv Sena.
Baramati:
Eight months after he invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his home turf, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has fuelled speculation in political circles by hosting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at Baramati in western Maharashtra.
Mr Jaitley, who is attending a series of functions at Baramati and Pune today, spent last night at Pawar's Govind Baug residence near Baramati. The Union Finance Minister had dinner at Govind Baug with Pawar, party sources told news agency Press Trust of India.
Today Mr Jaitley will inaugurate the new building of the College of Agriculture and Allied Science and also attend the renaming ceremony of the Vidya Pratishthan College of Engineering as Kamalnayan Bajaj Institute of Engineering and Technology at Baramati.
The visit comes amid souring ties between the BJP and its ally in the Maharashtra government, Shiv Sena, and after Mr Pawar's party offered "unconditional outside support" to the BJP last year after the latter emerged as the single largest party to stake claim to form government after Assembly elections.
In February, PM Modi had shared a stage with Mr Pawar in Baramati leading to speculation on the prospect of the BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party working on their differences and coming together after a bitter election campaign last year, where both sides minced no words in attacking each other.
While PM Modi had attacked Mr Pawar during Maharashtra elections last year and called the NCP the "Naturally Corrupt Party", the February visit sparked off a new bonhomie where the Prime Minister appeared to hint at new ties.
Calling Mr Pawar an experienced leader, PM Modi had said, "I speak to Sharad Pawar more than two times a month. He has always thought of farmers' plight."
Taking a dig at the media, PM Modi had said, "It's a good day for the media. They will pull out old tapes of what Modi had said earlier and what Pawar had said earlier. We have different beliefs but national interest is a priority."
Mr Jaitley, who is attending a series of functions at Baramati and Pune today, spent last night at Pawar's Govind Baug residence near Baramati. The Union Finance Minister had dinner at Govind Baug with Pawar, party sources told news agency Press Trust of India.
Today Mr Jaitley will inaugurate the new building of the College of Agriculture and Allied Science and also attend the renaming ceremony of the Vidya Pratishthan College of Engineering as Kamalnayan Bajaj Institute of Engineering and Technology at Baramati.
The visit comes amid souring ties between the BJP and its ally in the Maharashtra government, Shiv Sena, and after Mr Pawar's party offered "unconditional outside support" to the BJP last year after the latter emerged as the single largest party to stake claim to form government after Assembly elections.
In February, PM Modi had shared a stage with Mr Pawar in Baramati leading to speculation on the prospect of the BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party working on their differences and coming together after a bitter election campaign last year, where both sides minced no words in attacking each other.
While PM Modi had attacked Mr Pawar during Maharashtra elections last year and called the NCP the "Naturally Corrupt Party", the February visit sparked off a new bonhomie where the Prime Minister appeared to hint at new ties.
Calling Mr Pawar an experienced leader, PM Modi had said, "I speak to Sharad Pawar more than two times a month. He has always thought of farmers' plight."
Taking a dig at the media, PM Modi had said, "It's a good day for the media. They will pull out old tapes of what Modi had said earlier and what Pawar had said earlier. We have different beliefs but national interest is a priority."
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
