"Insult To Maharashtra": Sharad Pawar's Party Targets Centre Over PM Event

NCP leader Supriya Sule on Tuesday said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was "denied permission" by the PMO to speak in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a temple inauguration event in Dehu near Pune city, and dubbed it as an insult to the state.

The prime minister inaugurated a shila (rock) temple at the Sant Tukaram Maharaj Mandir dedicated to the 17th-century saint in Dehu.

Devendra Fadnavis, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, spoke just before PM Modi delivered his speech at the programme.

Talking to reporters in Amravati, Ms Sule, a Lok Sabha MP, said Mr Pawar, a senior NCP leader, had requested the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to allow him to speak at the event.

She said as the Guardian Minister of Pune district and Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Pawar had received Mr Modi at the Lohegaon airport on his arrival.

"Dada's (Ajit Pawar) office had requested that he be allowed to speak because he is the Deputy CM and Pune district guardian minister. But the PMO declined permission to Dada to give his speech," Ms Sule said, adding she was sharing this information after verifying it from Mr Pawar's office.

"This is an insult to Maharashtra. If our Deputy CM is on the stage then it is his right to speak," said the Member of Parliament from Baramati in the Pune district.

"Whether to allow Fadnavis to speak is their internal matter but Ajit Pawar should have been allowed to speak at the Dehu event," the NCP leader said.

She said that the incident was "very hurtful, shocking and distressing".

The visuals of the function showed that after the compere requested the prime minister to speak at the event, the latter asked something to Ajit Pawar who was sitting beside him on the stage and then moved to address the gathering.

"Leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis was given an opportunity to speak at the Prime minister's event at Dehu, but the state's deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar was not allowed to speak. This is an insult to Maharashtra," Ms Sule later tweeted.

NCP legislator Amol Mitkari, too, concurred with Ms Sule's views.

In the Amravati district, Ms Sule and NCP workers staged a protest and raised slogans against the Central government over the issue.

Speaking on the controversy, Nitin More, the chief trustee of the temple trust, said they had no role into it.

"We had no role into who will be speaking at the PM's event. It was a protocol received from Delhi which was followed," he said.

However, the Maharashtra unit of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP hit back at the NCP for its criticism over the issue and "maligning" the image of PM Modi, and pointed out that the Dehu event was a private gathering and not a government programme where strict norms of protocol are applicable.

The BJP chose its official account on Facebook to counter the NCP's tirade and its claim of insult to Maharashtra.

The BJP FB post said, "The Dehu event was a private one; hence no protocol can be applicable here. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was there at the function in Raj Bhavan (in Mumbai for inauguration of Gallery of Revolutionaries by the PM) where he did not speak but state chief minister spoke." "Those who intend to malign the image of PM Modi, relentlessly can not be cured at all. BJP does not give importance to personal pride before saints and great traditions," the party said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)