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Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has declined an invitation to dine with Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) president Sharad Pawar, who had extended an invitation a day before to share a meal at his residence in Baramati during his visit to his hometown on Saturday.
Shinde reasoned that he has a hectic schedule as he has to go to Ahmedabad. "We have a hectic schedule tomorrow. We have to go to Ahmedabad, next time we will come for sure, we have conveyed our message to Sharad Pawar," the Chief Minister said speaking at a press conference in Mumbai on Friday. The Chief Minister turned down the invitation soon after his deputy, Devendra Fadnavis also declined the invitation to dine with the NCP veteran. Sharad Pawar, the opposition leader, had invited Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the two Deputy CMs, including his nephew Ajit Pawar, to share a meal at his residence in Baramati during their visit on March 2. In his letter, Sharad Pawar wrote, "After taking the oath as CM of the state, the CM is coming to Baramati for the first time and I am very glad about his visit to attend the Namo Maharojgar Event in Baramati. Therefore, I would like to extend the invitation for the meal at my residence after the event, along with his other Cabinet colleagues." Shinde along with his deputies Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, all political rivals of Sharad Pawar, will be attending a job fair, 'Namo Maharojgar Melava', in the premises of Vidya Pratishthan college in Baramati town of Pune district. The surprise invitation to Shinde and the two deputy CMs by Senior Pawar comes in the backdrop of a split in the NCP, a party founded by him in 1999, and strained ties with his nephew Ajit Pawar, who parted ways with him and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in July last year. (ANI)
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