Sharad Pawar invites Shinde, Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar for lunch at Baramati home

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) president Sharad Pawar has invited Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar to share a meal at his residence in Baramati during their visit to his hometown on March 2.

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.

There are also talks to Ajit Pawar, who has got the NCP name and symbol following the split, thinking of fielding a candidate for the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, currently represented by his cousin and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule.

In the invitation (which is part of a letter dated February 28) extended to Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, the former Union minister stated that as parliamentarians, he and Sule would like to attend the official event in Baramati.

The Rajya Sabha MP, in the letter addressed to Shinde, said as president of Vidya Pratishthan, he would be glad to welcome the CM on the premises of the educational institute.

He urged Shinde along with Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar to accept his invitation for a meal at his residence in Baramati, 'Govindbaug, after the event at Vidya Pratishthan. PTI SPK RSY