'Political Opponents, Not Enemies': Eknath Shinde On Meeting Sharad Pawar

Two days after his meeting with NCP (SP) patriarch Sharad Pawar triggered intense political speculation, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said that political opponents cannot be seen as enemies.

Speaking in the Assembly, Shinde said: "As soon as I learnt that Sharad Pawar had arrived, I rushed to welcome him with a shawl and a coconut."

"We are political opponents, not enemies," he added.

Sharad Pawar visited the Maharashtra Assembly on Wednesday to attend a crucial meeting on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

After the meeting, he had gone to meet Shinde at his office in the assembly premises. He even took a meeting of his party's legislators there, sparking intense speculation.

Read | 'Storm In Tea Cup': Supriya Sule On Buzz Over Sharad Pawar-Eknath Shinde Meet

It was reported that Shinde had cut short a Cabinet meet and rushed to his office where Pawar was waiting. After the 15-minute meeting Shinde left while Pawar held a meeting of his party MLAs in the Deputy Chief Minister's office.

The meeting had evoked a sharp reaction from Pawar's ally Shiv Sena (UBT). Uddhav Thackeray's party leader Sanjay Raut had on Thursday questioned Sharad Pawar on meeting Shinde and holding his party's meeting inside the Deputy Chief Minister's office. Terming Shinde a "traitor" Raut had said that meeting him will hit Sharad Pawar's credibility. He also added that all the allies were hurt with the development.

But on Thursday, Raut clarified that the party was not angry with Pawar anymore. Calling Sharad Pawar "tallest leader" of the Aghadi alliance, he clarified that he had expressed party workers' emotions over the meeting. He, however, repeated that Eknath Shinde should be remain an untouchable for the MVA allies.

"Shinde is a traitor. We should not give him legitimacy by meeting him. We can't be seen sipping tea with a traitor," Raut said.
Pawar's daughter and MP Supriya Sule also on Friday played down the meeting calling it a "storm in a tea cup".

Read | "State Of Instability": Congress Stirs Pot After Sharad Pawar-E Shinde Meet

"It was just a short courtesy meeting. Nothing more than that," Sule said on Friday.

Sule also rejected the speculation that a camp in her party was pushing for a switch to the NDA. "I am in constant touch with all our eight MPs. We are all united," she told reporters.

Reacting to Shiv Sena (UBT)'s strong remarks on the Pawar-Shinde meeting, Sule called it a "misunderstanding". "I have spoken to Sanjay Raut. It was a misunderstanding. We are good now,' she said.
MVA ally Congress, however, called the meeting pre-planned and hinted that some political moves may be afoot. "I think it was a pre-planned meeting. Something is happening," former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan told NDTV on Friday. "I have been informed by some people in the government that there is a bid to poach NCP (SP)'s MPs," he added.