CM at literary meet,says isn’t trying to avoid Big B

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan made an unscheduled visit to the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan on Saturday,fuelling speculation that he wanted to avoid sharing the dais with Amitabh Bachchan at the closing ceremony on Sunday.

The Chief Minister,however,denied any such suggestion. Asked whether he would attend the scheduled function on Sunday,he said, “There are still 24 hours for the programme. I do not want to say anything right now.”

He said he had no instructions from the high command on sharing the stage with Bachchan. “I had a function in Baramati and so I decided to attend the meet as well.”

Sammelan organizer Dr Satish Desai said,”He is a guest. When we were told that he would want to come today as well,we were more than happy.” He declined to comment whether Chavan would attend the closing ceremony. “We have both CM and Bachchan on our guest list. We have invited both of them.”

The presence of Bachchan at the inauguration of the northbound arm of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai had created a row. Chavan had maintained that he had not known that the superstar was attending the meet,which came in for criticism from various quarters.

Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Eknath Khadse had taken exception to Chavan’s remarks. “Amitabh Bachchan is an icon for our state as well country. How could he make such a comment?”

NCP spokesperson Madan Bafna had blamed the media for politicising the issue. “The CM can decide when and what to attend. This is like seeing too much of nothing.”