Mumbai: In a report on the power struggle in the BJP, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the time allocated to him to speak at the National Sports Awards held in Pune.
In seven days it was the third time that Mr. Paval was denied a speech. Earlier this week, Mr. Pawar and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde did not have the opportunity to speak on the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Chaityabhoomi Br Ambedkar in Dadar. The two left the venue after planning and did not talk to the media waiting to interact. In the presence of the Union’s Interior Minister Amit Shah, Mr. Pawar also had no chance to speak on the occasion of the 345th anniversary of the birth of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Raigad Fort.
The state sports ministry held an award ceremony at the Shiv Chhatrapati Stadium in Mhalunge-Balewadi on Friday. In the presence of Governor CP Radhakrishnan and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy representative Ajit Pawar, the awards including the Shiv Chatrapati National Sports Lifetime Achievement Award and the outstanding sports guide were won by approximately 150 people. Another DCM EKNATH SHINDE skipped the awards ceremony.
Mr Paval, who is also the Minister of Finance of the State, sarcastically said that even a team in the ODI game had four hours to play. “The sports of hockey and Kabadi were allocated for over an hour to finish the game. However, the head of the state and two deputy chief ministers were allocated for four to five minutes. The deputy chief minister (Eknath Shinde) was not for some reason. What would we say in four to five minutes,”
NCP leaders said they could not even get their names and congratulate the winners in four to five minutes. “How can I talk about the efforts the government has made for sports development in a limited time period? I am a rule-abiding person. So, I’m going to stop here.”
