Sharad Pawar visits BJP leader's home, NCP cadre in a fix

Eyebrows are being raised over NCP chief Sharad Pawar's visit to the home of Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar. While Pawar did not comment Shelar said it was a personal visit, but there are no takers for his argument.
It is believed that besides politics, the two discussed the impact of the Lodha Committee recommendations on the Mumbai Cricket Association. Following the appointment of administrators, former Justices Hemant Gokhale and V M Kanade, Shelar ceases to be the president of the Mumbai Cricket Association. NCP workers are upset over Pawar's visit to Shelar's home. Pawar had earlier met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya. He also later met MNS chief Raj Thackeray. All these meetings took place at Pawar's residence. A senior NCP leader said that personal life is beyond politics, but the timing of Pawar meeting with Shelar was wrong.

At a juncture when the NCP has launched a statewide agitation against the BJP for its "failure on all fronts", Pawar should have avoided visiting Shelar. NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare, Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil and former speaker Dilip Walse Patil are on a tour to demand complete loan waiver for farmers and protesting against the deteriorating law-and-order situation. Pawar too has addressed some meetings. Senior NCP leaders have maintained a silence over Pawar's meeting.

Ahmednagar on the boil

The law-and-order situation in Ahmednagar district has collapsed after leading politicians vandalised the police superintendent's office against the detention of a NCP legislator. In the recent past, it was probably the first incident in the state when an SP's office was ransacked. Ahmednagar is the home town of leader of the opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, while water conservation minister Ram Shinde is the district's guardian minister. Prominent politicians of BJP and NCP were detained following the murder of two senior Shiv Sena leaders, resulting in violence across the city. Although Ahmednagar city has a history of violence, the home department led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis did not crack down on "mafia elements". In view of the crucial civic bypoll, it was expected that additional police force would be deployed, but it appears that the district administration did not take the elections seriously. Last year, Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district had witnessed the gang-rape and murder of a minor, following which there an uproar across the state. The Maratha community had hit the streets to press their demand for a death sentence for all the accused. Then Ahmednagar SP Saurabh Tripathi ensured that a chargesheet was filed against the accused within the stipulated time. In the absence of direct evidence, building up a strong case was a difficult task, but on the basis of forensic evidence, the culprits were booked. The session's court heard the case on a daily basis and all the accused were convicted. "Vikhe-Patil, Thorat and Shinde will have to concentrate on the state of affairs in Ahmednagar and ensure that mafias do not run the administration," said a veteran bureaucrat.