Nothing political, says Pawar on tryst with Shekhar, Pilot

The visit of Chandrashekhar and Pilot assumes significance as the former has been making a public appeal to the Congress to come forward to form a government in New Delhi while Pilot is one of the members of the committee probing the defeat of party candidate Ram Pradhan in the Maharashtra Rajya Sabha election.

The meeting also comes against the backdrop of the appointment of Prataprao Bhosale, an arch political rival of Sharad Pawar, as MPCC president.

Pawar, accompanied byChandrashekhar and Pilot landed at Lohegaon airport in Pune on Friday evening and drove down to Baramati. They stayed at Pawar’s ancestral home at Katewadi, where, sources said, they plunged into discussions for at least two hours before calling it a day.

On Saturday, Pawar took Chandrashekhar and Pilot to various educational and cooperative institutions in his constituency. They addressed a farmers’ rally on Sunday before leaving for Delhi. The leaders also had a dinner meeting with Rajendra Pawar, nephew of Sharad Pawar, on Saturday night. Significantly, Pawar personally requested the security personnel for privacy on Saturday. Only a few members of Pawar’s family were present. Sources added that the leaders had another round of discussions at Pawar’s residence which stretched to midnight.

Talking to The Indian Express at his Katewadi residence on Sunday morning, Pawar said it was wrong to attribute any political motives to his visit with Chandrashekhar and Pilot. “Chandrashekhar and Rajesh haveexpressed their willingness to visit Baramati on several occasions to see various works initiated by me and I invited them to my house when they were free. There’s no politics involved,” Pawar stressed.

Stating that the party had decided to strengthen the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, Pawar said he did not anticipate any fresh political alignments in the near future since political polarization BJP versus anti-BJP already existed.

Pilot, who had contested the election for Congress presidentship against Pawar, told The Indian Express that he had come down to Baramati to study the various experiments in the agriculture sector, which he intents to launch in his constituency. When asked about speculation in political circles about his visit, Pilot pleaded ignorance. “Is it so? Is it serious?” he asked. The three leaders attended a number of public functions but avoided making political statements, focusing instead on issues like rural and agriculture development. The sources close to Pawar disclosedthat the visit was finalised at a short notice and that they had no time to make the necessary arrangements. Pawar’s local supporters were also said to be confused about the unexpected visit.