But why wasn146;t Pawar there?

While Lalu Prasad Yadav8217;s absence from the last Cabinet meeting might have been a rare tactical mistake, Sharad Pawar8217;s absence certainly wasn8217;t. With his party colleague, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, making the infamous 8216;bullet-for-bullet8217; remark, Pawar was probably left with no choice but to skip the meeting, which, expectedly, had a heated discussion on the violence against north Indians in Maharashtra. Officially, Pawar8217;s absence was attributed to the fact that he was still on his way from Mumbai. But it later turned out that he had landed well in time, considering the Cabinet meeting had been delayed by over an hour.